Voltron: One Adventure at a Time
by Griffin Stone
Summary: My series of unconnected one-shots. (Table of Contents in first chapter. Rating varies between K-T) Newest story: The Mighty Kitties of Voltron- The paladins awake one morning to find that their Lions are tiny! Playtime, confusing Alteans, bonding, and combat training ensue.
1. Table of Contents

I recently realized how many Voltron one-shots I have cluttering up my profile, so I decided to stick them all here! So far, it's just the one-shots I posted previously (Thus the chapter titles being in alphabetical order), but I will be adding more as time goes on. A few were left on the profile due to popularity or the possibility of future chapters. They are all unconnected, unless stated in the A/N's (all of which will remain the same as when I first posted, for the most part.) If I missed any, please PM me!

Guest reviewer Hi suggested adding a table of contents, and I think that's a grand idea. Hopefully, I can get this moved to the first chapter...

* * *

 **2-Black Paladins:** (Post season seven) Negotiations gone wrong end up with Keith stabbed in the back and waking up on the astral plane. While his physical body recovers, he encounters Zarkon and they fight. But, nothing goes as planned when one side of a fight to the death isn't really trying to kill the other.

 **3-Chew Toy:** (Takes place in season four; rating for injury and whumping) Keith goes on a Blade mission to free some prisoners. He makes a new friend and almost loses an arm. Prequel to Gravtron1's NOT a Chew Toy.

 **4-Enemy of My Enemy:** (Requested by Shiranai Atsune) Lotor had a plan. Crash-landing, then finding an injured Lance with neither side's team in sight was not part of the plan.

 **5-Fallen Father:** (Takes place in season seven) A conversation with Kolivan in the ruins leads Krolia to saddening news and Keith to realize that maybe the Blades of Marmora are connected in more ways than purpose.

 **6-Find Your Place:** The war is over, and it's time to heal and go home. But, as the paladins learn, not all wounds are physical and not everyone considers their home planet home. (Unrelated to all of my other post-season six stories.)

 **7-First Blades:** Krolia's missing, and Kolivan is just trying to stay out of trouble.

 **8-Hold Me Close:** (AU to the events surrounding Lotor's death.) For ten thousand years, Haggar wanted only to open the quintessence field for Zarkon. Now, Honerva only wants to be with her son.

 **9-Only Mostly Dead:** (Voltron/Princess Bride parody) Keith and Hunk need Shiro's help to get into Prince Lotor's castle so Keith can avenge his mother. But first, they'll need a miracle, because Shiro is kind of dead just then. Luckily, there might be someone who can help them.

 **10-The Lions Fell:** (Season seven spoilers; what-if AU) The lions fell. Comms were down. Four ships and one rover raced to the fallen lions. Their pilots feared the worst... and got it.

 **11-The Quest for Freedom:** (Major character death, no blood.) As the coalition rallies behind the paladins, they set in motion a risky plan to take out Zarkon's army. Win or lose, this will be the fight that ends the war. And for one paladin -whose strength and stability the team could never have pictured themselves without- it will truly be the final battle.

 **12-To Touch the Stars:** (Not a death-fic, but does sound like it. Post-season six.) All he wanted was to touch the stars...

 **13** **-A Mother Never Forgets** : A Voltron/HTTYD crossover, featuring Keith and Krolia in the place of Hiccup and Valka.

 **14-So I Hear You Like Bad Boys:** Keith regrets going to Matt for advice on getting Pidge's attention

 **15-Remember Me Smiling:** (Altean/seer Lance AU) Lance always knew they would win the war. Just like he knew that he wouldn't survive it.

 **16-Leap of Faith:** Blue encourages Lance to take a leap of faith.

 **17-Marks in the Dark:** (AU) Veronica and the MFE pilots find a stranger in unfamiliar white-and-blue armor while on patrol. Suspicions and obvlion ensue.

 **18-The Stranger in Blue Armor:** (AU) Veronica and the MFE pilots find an injured stranger in unfamiliar blue-and-white armor. Whumping and angst to follow.

 **19-The Mighty Kitties of Voltron:** The paladins awake one morning to find that their Lions are tiny! Playtime, confusing Alteans, bonding, and combat training ensue.


	2. Black Paladins

****A/N: Some references are made to my other story,**** ** _ **Just Open Your Eyes**_** ** **, but you should be able to read this alone without any confusion.****

 ** **Gravtron1 and I were throwing ideas around last week, and this was one of the things that popped up.****

 ** **Synopsis: (Post season seven) Negotiations gone wrong end up with Keith stabbed in the back and waking up on the astral plane. While his physical body recovers, he encounters Zarkon and they fight. But, nothing goes as planned when one side of a fight to the death isn't really trying to kill the other.****

 ** **Rating: K+****

 ** **Genres: Humor/Friendship****

* * *

Keith would never forget the day he was stabbed with a spear.

It wasn't because he nearly died, that had become almost a daily occurrence by then. The spear was new, though.

No, it was what had followed that made the event stick in his memory. Some days he was sure he had imagined it, but it had really, truly happened.

It had occurred after what Keith had thought to be a peaceful negotiations with a band of space pirates who had been harrying trader ships headed for Earth. The pirates had apparently surrendered when the Voltron lions appeared, and had been readily accepting of the terms laid out by the paladins.

Keith had turned from the pirates with the other paladins to head back to their lions, when Pidge had yelled a warning.

Something had struck Keith from behind, knocking his breath away and sending him to his knees. Allura had grabbed him, while the other three raced by with weapons raised.

His back had hurt. Something warm ran down the inside of his armor. It became impossible to keep his eyes open.

Keith's eyes had fallen shut, everything going dark and the team's shouts had faded.

* * *

 _ _Keith opened his eyes to an endless expanse of stars. He gasped, then tried to sit up. Pain shot through his back, making him groan and lay back down. Moving only his head, Keith looked around him.__

 _ _No paladins. No Shiro. No Black. He was alone.__

 _ _Keith slowly sat up, hissing through his teeth when the pain briefly intensified. He twisted gingerly to feel his back, but the armor was unbroken.__

 _ _As Keith straightened, he noticed a growing glow on his arms. Further checking showed that his whole body had started to glow purple. The brighter the glow became, the less he hurt. After a few minutes, the pain was gone and the glow sunk to a light aura.__

 _ _"Black?" Keith called, figuring it had been Black's quintessence that had healed him.__

 _ _The lion didn't appear, making Keith nervous. He stood and turned in a circle before he spotted a distant, purple star. If his knowledge served correct, Keith's life wasn't in danger unless he was close to the star. He sighed in relief that it was so far away, and that he wasn't feeling drawn to it. The team had almost lost Lance that way once.__

 _ _So, Keith was alive and healed. Why was he still in the astral plane? After a moment, Keith shrugged. Not even Black could heal him instantly, he supposed.__

 _ _He hoped the paladins were alright, but the band of pirates had been small and no other paladins had appeared with him, so he assumed they were handling themselves.__

 _ _Keith frowned at the purple star. It was still distant, but he didn't like seeing it. He turned away.__

 _ _And promptly summoned his bayard.__

 _ _Zarkon stood ten feet away. He wore the same armor and cape as when the paladins first encountered him, along with a large helmet that covered his whole head. Slits in the helmet glowed yellow.__

 _ _"Zarkon!" Keith spat. "What are you doing here?"__

 _ _Zarkon gave a dark chuckle. "Surely you must know that the connection between lion and paladin goes beyond death."__

 _ _"You are not Black's paladin!"__

 _ _"I am here."__

 _ _Keith growled and reached for the sheath on his back, relieved when he found his Marmoran blade. He pulled it out and formed both swords.__

 _ _"You really think you can kill me?" Zarkon laughed. "I'm already dead!"__

 _ _Keith raised both blades. "Shiro has gotten rid of you once. I don't know how you got back, but I'll do it again!"__

 _ _"So, it's a fight you want?" Zarkon raised his hand and summoned his own black bayard, which formed into a massive sickle. "Then it is a fight you will get!"__

 _ _Keith yelled and charged. He took only two steps before he had to dive to the ground to avoid Zarkon's sickle. He rolled and leaped back to his feet while Zarkon rebalanced. He swung at the dark overlord, who nimbly stepped back. His sickle transformed into a war hammer, which he used to bat Keith to the side.__  
 _ _Keith slammed agains the ground on his side, briefly knocking his breath away. He scrambled to stand, succeeding after a few seconds to find that Zarkon still hadn't moved.__

 _ _"I thought you wanted a fight?" Zarkon mocked.__

 _ _Keith ran at Zarkon again, then was forced to leap away from the hammer. Zarkon formed the sickle and drove Keith further away.__

 _ _Keith gritted his teeth and attempted another charge. When the sickle swung at him, he crossed his blades and caught the curved end. He flung it up into the air, but there was too much force behind both of the fighter's swings and Keith stumbled onto his stomach.__

 _ _"You rely too much on your blades," Zarkon said. "How can you fight from a distance with only two swords?"__

 _ _Keith frowned at the sudden lack of mockery in Zarkon's voice. He rolled under the sickle to his feet, then answered Zarkon's question by throwing his Marmoran sword at Zarkon while he lifted the sickle back up. When the blade was inches from Zarkon, one hand released the sickle to snatch the blade out of the air.__

 _ _"That is better," Zarkon said as the Marmoran blade went to its knife state. "But now you are down a weapon, and have only further armed me."__

 _ _Keith tried running at Zarkon while he spoke, but Zarkon simply formed a black whip and snapped it at Keith. Keith's knife vanished somewhere into Zarkon's armor, and Keith felt a flare of anger. Both at himself for throwing the blade and at Zarkon for keeping it out of his grasp.__

 _ _When the whip snapped at him, Keith swung his sword at it. It stopped the attack, but the whip also wrapped around the blade. Zarkon jerked, and Keith lost his footing. He fell, losing his sword in the process.__

 _ _"You let your anger cloud your attacks," Zarkon said, distangling the sword from the whip. "You should have backed further away, so I would form the sickle again. That is the only weapon you have had any luck against. Or better yet." Zarkon drove Keith's sword into the non-existant ground and left it. "Formed a new weapon yourself to fight better."__

 _ _Keith growled as he stood. "Are we fighting or what?"__

 _ _"No, we aren't. I'm kicking your sorry rear from here to Wozblay," Zarkon said.__

 _ _Keith yelled and charged. As he ran, he called his bayard back to him and reformed the sword. He swung at Zarkon, who formed the exact same sword to block it.__

 _ _"The sword again. Have you really learned so little that you only know how to fight with the sword?" Zarkon asked, completely unfazed by the blade inches from his face. "Honestly, Lotor held the black bayard for barely a varga, and he unlocked more forms that you have in two deca-pheobs."__

 _ _Keith flinched. Zarkon suddenly shoved against his blade, knocking the sword away and Keith to the ground. Keith kicked out, catching Zarkon's foot and throwing him off-balance long enough for Keith to stand.__

 _ _Keith ran for his sword, then felt something wrap around his waist and jerk him to a stop. He looked down to see Zarkon's whip around his middle. In a split-second decision, Keith spun and lunged at Zarkon. He managed to catch the Galra by surprise, and Zarkon stumbled back. Keith yanked the whip from Zarkon's grasp and backed up while untangling himself.__

 _ _Now Zarkon was weaponless, and Keith had a weapon he didn't know how to use. Zarkon laughed and held out his hand. Keith tightened his grip, but the whip still vanished from his hands to appear in Zarkon's. Keith dove to the side and snatched up his bayard. He formed the sword and rushed close to Zarkon before he could use the whip. Zarkon formed a shield on his free arm and stopped Keith's attack while forming his war hammer. Keith had to form his shield and raise it over his head when Zarkon swung the hammer at him.__

 _ _For a moment, the pair was stuck. Both had their shield occupied by the other's weapon, and couldn't move. Keith started to shake from the strain of pushing back Zarkon's hammer, and he was startled to find that Zarkon was panting slightly.__

 _ _Giving a grunt of effort, Keith whipped up a foot against his shield and kicked. He shoved himself backward, sword sliding from Zarkon's shield and moving just in time to avoid the hammer. He landed on his back, and rolled backwards to stand again. He got into a defensive stance, but was unprepared for what Zarkon did next.__

 _ _Zarkon laughed. Not his malevolent laugh, but a real, genuine laugh that sounded amused.__

 _ _Unnerved by the laughter, Keith rapidly backed further from Zarkon. He glanced around, experience telling him that a laughing villain was a disaster in the making.__

 _ _But he didn't see anything that Zarkon could use against him, and a quick check found the purple star as far away as ever.__

 _ _"What is so funny?" Keith finally demanded.__

 _ _"Ah, it's been a while since I could practice like that," Zarkon said with an almost nostalgic sigh. "Ten thousand years, to be exact."__

 _ _Keith stared. "Practice?"__

 _ _Zarkon swung his sickle to rest over his shoulder. "You didn't think I actually intended to kill you, did you?"__

 _ _"Yes, I did," Keith stated bluntly.__

 _ _"Ah, well, my own fault." Zarkon chuckled again, like he had played a grand joke on Keith. "It's been so long since I had any excitement in here, I had to see if I still had my old skills."__

 _ _Keith back away further, deciding it was better to be safe than sorry.__

 _ _"Okay, okay, I get it. But I mean you no harm." Zarkon deformed his sickle and dismissed the bayard, then held up his empty hands.__

 _ _"You are up to something.__

 _ _"Ah, paladins these days. So suspicious."__

 _ _Zarkon held up a hand in a pause motion, then reached up to remove his helmet. His face looked... rather normal. He had red-brown irises and normal black pupils. The sclera were still yellow, but they didn't seem to glow. He had a... a nice smile that somehow didn't seem so sinister to Keith with his open expression.__

 _ _Keith couldn't help it. "Who are you?"__

 _ _Zarkon laughed again, then unclipped his cape to let it fall. He pulled off the shoulder armor, then removed the rest of the armor piece by piece, until he stood in black paladin armor.__

 _ _"I am Zarkon, the original black paladin. And who are you?" Zarkon said, smiling indulgently.__

 _ _Keith frowned and finally lowered his sword. He put a hand to his head, trying to remember if he had hit it at some point.__

 _ _"You... you can't be Zarkon," Keith said. "Zarkon was evil and twisted, and would have killed me by now."__

 _ _"Ah, you admit I am the better fighter, then?"__

 _ _"That isn't the issue!"__

 _ _"True, I knew that I could beat you from the dobosh we first fought." Zarkon's eyes briefly became pained. "But, I am sure you want an explanation of how I am here. This isn't the first time you have come to the astral plane, I assume?"__

 _ _Keith stared silently.__

 _ _"Work with me, would you? Anyway, I'll assume you did, since your team have survived this long."__

 _ _Keith's eyes narrowed ever so slightly.__

 _ _"The astral plane is, essentially, the lions' consciousness. The most common part of the plane you will find yourself on is the middle ground between the five. That is where we are now."__

 _ _"However, see those stars? Those are the core grounds of the lions, where you can sense their presences the strongest. Of course, the only way to attain that is to have an immensely close bond with your lion or, well, be dead."__

 _ _"We've figured that out," Keith had to say. Pride filled his voice when he said, "We have flown the lions while we weren't even inside."__

 _ _"Not even my team got that far," Zarkon mused. "Well, then this can't be the closest you have been to Black's core. The core of the lions hold the consciousness that have been there since they were first created. Black is strong and a leader, Red is fiery and runs on instinct, etc. However, I have learned that when a paladin dies-"__

 _ _"They become part of the core, I know," Keith said smugly.__

 _ _Zarkon huffed. "Do you enjoy stealing my thunder?"__

 _ _"Lance nearly reached Red's core after almost dying. Alfor appeared to him and convinced him to go back. But he came as a lion."__

 _ _Zarkon looked at himself and shrugged. "This is only my essence. I could take any form I pleased, but this is most comfortable for me. Trust Alfor to choose a lion's form."__

 _ _Keith nearly laughed, then remembered who he was talking to. "Supposing you really are Zarkon's essence or whatever, why are you so... civil?"__

 _ _"You thought I was always a power hungry warlord?" Zarkon clicked his tongue. "If Coran has let you believe that illusion for so long, then my memory of his long-winded stories has become exaggerated."__

 _ _"He told us about the history of the lions and paladins." Keith crossed his arms. "It's just hard to believe that death could make you a decent guy."__

 _ _"I'd be hurt if I wasn't shocked myself. But, turns out, that losing a physical body that flows with quintessence kind of dims one's desire for quintessence."__

 _ _"Pidge wondered if that would be the case," Keith said thoughtfully.__

 _ _"So you believe me now?"__

 _ _"I haven't decided."__

 _ _"Well, hurry up. Because no one lives forever, and one day you'll be joining me here. I'd rather we weren't enemies then."__

 _ _Keith grimaced. "Did you have to bring my death into the conversation?"__

 _ _"Hey, fact of life. And innevitable. Get used to it. It took me very little time to."__

 _ _Keith snorted. "I can't believe we are having this conversation."__

 _ _"What would you rather talk about? I have ten thousand years' worth of experience. I'm an open book."__

 _ _"If you just wanted to talk, why did you act all sinster and 'fight me' when I first saw you in here?" Keith had to know.__

 _ _"I wanted to see how your hand-to-hand had improved and it wasn't like you wouldn't have attacked me anyway, no matter how I appeared to you. Also, I wasn't lying when I said I wanted the practice." Zarkon smirked. "But, I was also bored and your reaction was priceless."__

 _ _Keith shook his head. "I cannot believe this."__

 _ _"Do I have to tell you again, boy? Believe it." Zarkon studied Keith for a moment. "Your physical body is nearly healed enough for you to wake up."__

 _ _Keith looked down at himself. "How can you tell?"__

 _ _"Secrets of the astral plane," Zarkon said. Keith raised an eyebrow, and Zarkon admitted, "Okay, I can sense your quintessence. You can, too, I know, if you take the time."__

 _ _Keith shrugged. He never had worried to much about feeling out quintessence.__

 _ _"Do you have anything else to ask?" Zarkon asked.__

 _ _"If this real," Keith said slowly. "Does that mean we could talk again? Not for your 'pleasant' conversations, believe me."__

 _ _Zarkon chuckled. "Didn't think it for a second."__

 _ _"But... you did lead the original team of Voltron for deca-pheobs. If you could... help me to lead my team... I would be grateful."__

 _ _"I would gladly do that, and more!" Zarkon proclaimed.__

 _ _Keith smiled a bit. "What else can you do, besides scare me half to death?"__

 _ _"I can teach you to fight, boy," Zarkon said.__

 _ _"I can fight!"__

 _ _"About as well as Alfor could."__

 _ _Keith narrowed his eyes. "Was that an insult?"__

 _ _"I'm just saying that there is room for improvement. You aren't the red paladin, running purely on instinct. The black paladin must know what he is doing at all times."__

 _ _Keith chuckled. He was getting tired, that must have been why Zarkon was making sense to him. He sat down, eyes falling half shut.__

 _ _"Your physical body is ready for you to return," Zarkon said.__

 _ _Zarkon stepped closer and put a hand on Keith's shoulder. Keith didn't even flinch, no longer intimitidated by the large Galra. He blinked owlishly at Zarkon, unresistant as he helped him lay down.__

 _ _"And even more importantly," Zarkon went on, "So is your team."__

 _ _"I'll be back," Keith murmured. "Beat you next time."__

 _ _Zarkon laughed. "Just keep telling yourself that, boy."__

 _ _Keith grumbled at Zarkon's laughing at him again, but couldn't form the words to protest. His eyes fell shut. Zarkon spoke again, his words quickly fading.__

 _ _"Tell Shiro that he owes me a rematch in astral chess."__

* * *

"He's still not moving."

"I've done what I can, Pidge," Allura said. "He should wake up any moment."

Who were they waiting for, Keith wondered. Had someone else been injured while he was talking to Zarkon?

"He moved some. I think he is waking up now."

That was Shiro's voice. How had he gotten to the pirates' ship? Keith shifted, feeling himself laying on something softer than the lions' or pirate ship's floor.

"Keith? Come on, buddy."

Keith pried his eyes open. He squinted in the light, but he could see Shiro and the other paladins over him. Their expressions were all worried, but became more relaxed as Keith's eyes focused.

"How do you feel?" Shiro asked. "The others said that you were stabbed."

"With a spear," Lance supplied.

"Spear?" Keith repeated.

"Some sort of weird, hi-tech spear. The tip was a laser, and it sliced right through the armor. If it hadn't also mostly cauterized the wound, we wouldn't have been able to get you help in time," Hunk said.

"Oh." Keith tried to sit up, but Shiro held him down.

"Take it easy," Shiro said firmly. "Allura helped you heal and I think Black did, too, but your body is still recovering."

"What happened to the pirates?" Keith asked.

"We promised they could live if we never saw or heard of them again," Lance said. "They won't be an issue."

"Good," Keith said, glad to be rid of them.

"Hey, you went to the astral plane right?" Lance asked. "You didn't try chasing any stars, did you?"

"No, I was a little... distracted," Keith said. He looked at Shiro. "When you were in Black's consciousness, you played chess?"

Shiro's brows rose. "You mean, you met Zarkon?"

Pidge blinked. "Chess? Zarkon? What are you two talking about?"

Keith turned his head to her and grinned. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

* * *

 ** **A/N: I am treating being a paladin like being the Avatar or something like that. Remember how Aang could talk to the past avatars? Each paladin, upon their death, becomes part of their lion's consciousness. New generation paladins can sometimes meet them in various manners (on the astral plane, speaking to them in their heads, etc).****


	3. Chew Toy

**A/N:** **Synopsis: (Takes place in season four; rating for injury and whumping) Keith goes on a Blade mission to free some prisoners. He makes a new friend and almost loses an arm. Prequel to Gravtron1's NOT a Chew Toy.**

 **Rating: T**

* * *

"Scans are picking up no sentries or Galra, but there is something big wandering the tunnels," Regris said.

"Just one?" Keith murmured, surprised.

"It's very big," Regris expanded. "We'll have to be careful."

Keith glanced at Vrek. The taller, mute Galra was hard to read behind the mask, but Keith didn't think he was any more intimidated than he was. Regris tended to err on the side of caution, so the guardian wasn't likely to be that worrisome.

Vrek, as the elected leader of the trio, raised a hand and pointed toward the cave that led to where the prisoners were kept. He pointed to Keith, then at the ground, to himself and above, and finally to Regris and back.

 _ _Keith stayed low, he'd cover him from above. Regris stayed back for support and observation.__

"I'll track the creature," Regris said, settling atop a boulder with his tail coiled beneath him.

Keith nodded and rushed out of the cave that the Blades had used to hide their ship. He crossed a span of open ground and into the cave mouth.

The tunnel started low, a couple feet above Keith's head, but quickly enlarged to thirty feet high. While the tunnel started out rough, the walls became smoother further in. Keith realized that the beginning of the tunnel must have been mostly covered to keep… whatever inside.

The thought would have been less concerning if there weren't massive claw marks gouged out of the ground.

"You know that big thing you were seeing, Regris?" Keith said. "Just how big is it?"

"Having second thoughts?" Regris asked wrily.

"No, I just want to know what we might be up against," Keith said.

"It's hard to say. The creature stopped moving in a side tunnel, so it may be asleep."

"Let's hope so," Keith muttered, speeding up into a sprint.

He couldn't hear Vrek, but knew that the fellow Blade could be completely silent when he needed to be. He didn't even bother trying to spot him, either. Even if his helmet's light wasn't on a dim setting, there would have been no spotting the experienced Blade.

With Regris' guidance, it didn't take long for Keith to reach the thick metal bars that marked the beginning of the prison. Vrek dropped silently beside him and got to work at picking the lock.

Behind the bars, aliens of various races started to approach the bars. Keith gave a quick head count, and was relieved to see all the members of royalty they had been sent to rescue where there.

"We're here to rescue you," Keith whispered.

The prisoners began to murmur quietly in excitement. Vrek quickly turned his head to them, somehow silencing them with one move. Keith didn't blame them; Vrek's absolute silence was unnerving at times.

In a matter of ticks, Vrek had the door unlocked. He eased the door open.

Keith held his breath, glancing all around. This was just too easy. There were no sentries or cameras, and the guardian was nowhere in sight.

"Vrek, this-"

Keith's warning was cut off when the door slid all the way open. By way of some unseen button or lever, a blaring whistle suddenly cut through the caves.

Vrek jerked the door halfway closed and the whistle stopped, but the damage had already been done.

"The guardian's moving!" Regris barked out.

"Quiznak!" Keith growled. "Vrek, you can get them out, right? Regris, give me a route to intercept the guardian. I'll buy some time, and meet you outside."

Vrek shook his head, then pointed at himself and Keith rapidly.

 _ _Switch roles.__

"No, I move faster alone of the two of us," Keith said, herding the prisoners closer to Vrek. His next sentence was directed at the prisoners. "If you want to get out of here alive, follow Vrek. Don't stop for anything, got it?"

The prisoners nodded quickly. The obvious fear in their eyes made him wonder just what kind of guardian he was facing.

The group took off running. After passing a couple branching tunnels, Regris ordered Keith to leave the group. Vrek glanced back and nodded. Keith returned the nod and veered away.

It wasn't long before Keith felt the ground shaking from the approach of something big. He stopped in a narrow section of tunnel in front of a larger space. He pulled out his blade and formed the sword, then waited.

The shaking slowed as the guardian approached the turn just out of view. Keith braced himself as it moved into view.

The first thing that Keith saw was a massive head longer than his arm. It had black, thick fur and glowing red eyes. It's mouth hung open to expose glistening fangs. Short, sharp ears swiveled in Keith's direction.

Keith blinked. With the exception of its size and eyes, the guardian looked like a dog.

Then, two more heads appeared. Each was the same, except for the ears. While the first's came to a point, the furthest away had droopy ears that hung to its jawline, and the middle one had half-flopped ears.

"I thought you said there was only one!" Keith hissed as the three heads sniffed in his direction.

"There is only one," Regris said, sounding a bit confused.

Keith was about to argue that he wasn't seeing things, when the rest of the guardian came into view.

There were three heads, but only one body. The heads connected somewhere along the neck, to a thick, stocky body. The paws were as big as Keith's head, and the body was ten feet long.

"How much do the Galra know about human mythology?" Keith asked flatly.

"None. Why?"

"Because I'm looking at Cerberus," Keith said, trying to not laugh despite the size of the guardian.

The guardian -Cerberus, Keith couldn't help but correct himself- didn't seem too concerned with him. The three heads sniffed at the air, only the pointy-eared head growling at him.

"You're sure this is the guardian?" Keith asked.

"It's the only other thing in there besides you. Vrek, hold up. Scanning for traps now."

Keith had to laugh when Cerberus walked closer to him. The floppy-eared head sniffed him, nudging him backward a few steps. Keith chuckled and rubbed a hand on the beast's nose.

The head flinched away, then pushed forward into his chest. The half-floppy eared head moved forward curiously, while the pointy-eared head turned away.

"This is definitely no scary guardian," Keith said. He put his blade away and rubbed the two heads with either hand. "There's got to be something else."

"I'm not seeing anything else. Vrek, you're cleared. Keith, come back if you can leave your new friend."

"Okay, okay," Keith said with a grin.

The pointy-eared head finally ventured close enough for Keith to give it a scratch. He laughed when the head cocked to the side under his fingers. The eyes closed and the hind paw on that side started to thump the ground.

"Okay, you over-grown pup," Keith finally said. "I've got to go now."

"Do you want us to figure out how to open the tunnels so you can bring him home?" Regris teased.

"It is a shame that he has to stay here, especially with how he 'guards,'" Keith mused.

"We'll see if there is time to free him," Regris said with a chuckle.

Keith lowered his hands and stepped away. The floppy-eared head whined and leaned toward him. Keith reached out to pat the head, when there was another shrill whistle through the tunnels.

Cerberus jolted to attention. His heads jerked up and he stared down the tunnel from where the whistle had come.

"Um… Cerberus?" Keith tried, watching nervously as the creature's hackles rose. "Guys, something is wrong."

All three of Cerberus' heads went up in a tunnel-shaking howl. Keith yelped and pressed his hands to his ears, then Cerberus leaped over his head.

"Oh, no, no!" Keith yelled, lowering his hands and taking off in a run. "Vrek, the guardian's coming and he does not look happy! Regris, how far away are they?"

"Not far enough, based on the guardian's speed," Regris said, all humor gone. "They had to take a roundabout way to avoid the guardian, and the guardian is going to block them off!"

"Vrek, hurry!" Keith panted, pushing his own legs faster.

While Cerberus was so much bigger, his size hindered him from moving much faster than Keith. He still reached the narrower tunnel that led outside before Vrek's group, though, skidding to a halt in front the tunnel. Keith reached Cerberus at the same time as Vrek.

"I'll distract him!" Keith yelled without slowing. "Everyone, get outside!"

Keith slammed his body into Cerberus. The oversized guardian stumbled and turned his three heads toward Keith, who quickly backed away.

"Hey, buddy, it's okay," Keith said in a low voice. "No one's going to hurt you."

The heads blinked at Keith in unison. While two of the heads were snarling, the floppy-eared head was whining.

Keith held out his empty hands. "See?"

Cerberus tried growling again, but the floppy-eared head seemed to take over. It stretched out and pressed its muzzle to one of his hands.

"Keith, what is going on?" Regris hissed.

"Just making friends," Keith said, keeping his voice in a low croon. "Vrek, I'll lead him out of the way. Wait until we are out of sight."

Keith glanced at Vrek, and saw the older Blade gesturing wildly. He was __not__ happy with the arrangement, but there wasn't anything else he could do.

"Come on, Cerberus," Keith murmured. "Everything is fine…"

Keith reached his other hand out to scratch the half-floppy eared head when it wandered close enough. While the pointy-eared head continued to growl, Cerberus didn't give a fight when Keith started to sidle away. Cerberus turned with some difficulty in the narrow tunnel to follow.

They were halfway to the next tunnel when a flurry of footsteps caught their attention. They turned just in time to see two of the prisoners rush out the tunnel.

"No, no, wait!" Keith yelled when fury flooded Cerbrerus' eyes.

Cerberus bellowed and twisted around. Keith ducked under his paws and threw himself between Cerberus and the prisoners with Vrek.

"No, bad dog!" Keith yelled, unable to believe what he was doing.

Cerberus flinched away at the rebuke. His ears went back as he eyed Keith and the prisoners.

"I think he wants to make friends, but he has a job to do," Keith murmured to Vrek. "Hold on."

Keith offered his hand to Cerberus again. The creature whined uncertainly, but the floppy-eared head stretched out. Keith tried to lead Cerberus away again, but it didn't work a second time. Cerberus insisted on staying where he could see the prisoners.

Keith grunted in annoyance. Cerberus was much calmer then, but he would probably go crazy again once the prisoners started for the door. He had to figure out a way to distract Cerberus for just a minute…

Keith's thoughts were interrupted, but the scuffle of many feet. He whirled around to see that all the prisoners had finally panicked and run for the door. Cerberus howled, and Keith quickly turned back to face him.

"No!" Keith yelled, flinging his arms out. "Stay!"

Cerberus started to step forward, and Keith repeated the command. Cerberus froze, but his eyes filled with rage as the prisoners ran.

"Just take it-"

Keith's attempt at calming Cerberus broke off when the creature surged forward. Keith planted his feet; the tunnel was too narrow for Cerberus to pass without knocking him over. He could at least slow Cerberus if nothing else.

Except, Cerberus didn't try to pass.

Three large muzzles gaped open, headed right for Keith. Before he could move, three sets of fanged mouths clamped down on his left shoulder and upper arm.

Keith stared. Past experience said he should have been in agony within ticks, but he didn't feel anything. By the time Keith realized it was because the fangs hadn't pierced the armor, Cerberus had lifted him right off his feet.

Giving an inadvertent yelp, Keith scrambled to reach his blade with his free hand. He quickly formed the sword and stabbed it into the wall.

Cerberus was jerked to a stop, and Keith felt his arm wretched to the side. If one of Cerberus' heads hadn't been on his shoulder to provide leverage, his arm would have been horribly dislocated.

As it was, the wretch on his arm made Keith lose his grip on his sword. He groaned and pulled his free arm closer as Cerberus regained his paws. Keith cocked his head back to see the prisoners still bunched together.

"Everyone, get out!" Keith yelled. He turned his attention back to Cerberus and flailed his legs to kick the guardian's jaw. "Hey, Cerberus!"

Cerberus growled and tensed. Before Keith could recognize the stance, Cerberus began shaking his heads.

By the time Cerberus was finished, Keith felt like a few of his teeth had been shaken loose and he was starting to lose feeling in his captured arm. His stomach roiled uncomfortably, forcing him to swallow against the nausea.

"I'm not a dog toy!" Keith yelped, kicking disorientedly at Cerberus.

Fortunately, the distraction had allowed Vrek to herd the prisoners toward the exit. He was just pushing the last few through when Cerberus remembered his job.

Giving a muffled howl through Keith's arm, Cerberus leaped forward with his paws outstretched. He landed hard inches from Vrek's fleeting back.

There was a __crunch__ on impact. Something tingled in Keith's arm.

"Everyone's out!" Regris said. "Keith, where are you?!"

"Busy," Keith said with a grunt. "Call back later."

Keith turned his attention back to Cerberus. He had to get the overgrown dog to let him go, which he hoped would be easier since the prisoners were now gone. As soon as he turned his head, though, thoughts of getting away from Cerberus vanished.

The crunch when Cerberus had landed, had been his armor. Three sets of fangs had broken through his armor and were currently sunk into his flesh.

As if the sight had summoned it, burning pain flared in his arm.

Keith yelled in pain, startling Cerberus so that he was dropped to the ground on his back. The jolt through his body enough to make his vision darken on the edges, but he squinted determinedly to stay conscious. Cerberus leaned over him, heads showing a variety of concern and anger.

Keith tried to get up, but his body was shaky. He glanced down, then quickly away, at the puddle of blood under his arm. He pushed backward on his feet, but even the injured arm moving across the dirt made him gasp. He gave up trying to move, instead watching Cerberus step closer.

"What happened, Keith?" Regris demanded.

"Go," Keith rasped.

"I'm coming in!"

"No. Go," Keith repeated.

Cerberus stepped closer to Keith, laying one paw between his injured arm and leg. The floppy-eared head -the most concerned looking of the three heads- leaned closer to sniff at him.

The jaws opened up and reached for Keith, who squeezed his eyes shut. He could only hope that Cerberus would finish him off quickly.

"Hey, guardian!"

Regris' shout made Keith's eyes shoot open. Cerberus' heads were focused on the tunnel. Keith cocked his head back and saw Regris inside.

"Regris! The mission," Keith forced out. "Go!"

"Not without you!"

Keith groaned in frustration. Kolivan had warned the pair multiple times about risking the mission to go back for fellow Blades, yet they always ended up running back to make sure the other made it safely back.

Cerberus snarled and stood over Keith. Protecting his prey, most likely, since the prisoners had now escaped. Regris took out his blade and formed the sword.

Keith was about to yell at Regris to leave again, when Cerberus leaped. His forepaw struck Keith's injured arm.

A shriek of agony escaped Keith as his body unconsciously clenched. His head fell to the ground, vision going black just as Cerberus landed.

* * *

"Keith. Keith!"

Keith groaned as the persistent voice dragged him back to consciousness. The pain in his arm -honestly, he knew Galra were all for toughing through the pain, but would it hurt to have a __little__ of something to ease the pain?- made him want to sink back into the darkness, but curiosity as to how he was still alive made him focus.

If the pain was any indication, he was still alive. His body was propped up against something soft and warm. There was the sound of something breathing above him.

"Keith, wake up," Regris' voice pleaded. "You need to call off your guard dog."

Guard dog? Thoroughly confused, Keith forced his eyes open. He winced at the sunlight in his face, then blinked to clear his vision.

He was still in the tunnel, but the opening had been enlarged. Regris stood outside. He held the Blades' medic bag.

"Regris…?" Keith whispered.

Regris slumped in relief. "I was afraid you wouldn't wake up. Listen, you have to call off the guardian so I can get you to the ship before you bleed out."

Keith blinked, sluggish thoughts unable to sort out what Regris meant. Likely realizing this, Regris sighed and pointed over Keith's head.

Keith forced his head back and found the source of the breathing. It was kind of obvious, once he thought about it.

He was leaning against Cerberus. The floppy-eared head watched him closely, giving the occasional whine. The half-flopped-eared head was gently licking the wounded arm, doing wonders to slow the bleeding. The pointy-eared head was glaring at Regris.

"After you passed out, the guardian decided to guard you instead," Regris explained. "Which is good -he won't hurt you or leave you to go after me- but he won't let me bring you to the ship to get treated."

Deciding to wonder about Cerberus' actions later, Keith lifted his uninjured hand to pat the floppy-eared head. The whines trailed off, and the other two heads relaxed to lean in for some petting.

It took almost half an hour for Keith to have Cerberus calmed down enough that he let Regris come closer. The wounds had nearly stopped bleeding under Cerberus' care, and Regris quickly wrapped them up.

When it came time to move Keith, Cerberus pushed Regris away and carefully stood. His middle head then grabbed the hood of Keith's outfit and lifted the boy pup-style.

"I guess that means Cerberus is coming with us?" Regris asked with a chuckle, walking alongside the guardian as they headed for the ship.

Keith, full of painkillers by then, didn't answer. He was trying to figure out how he was going to explain his new dog to Shiro.

* * *

 ** **A/N: In case anyone is wondering, Cerberus became a guard dog at one of the Blade bases. He's pretty much useless at his job since he greets anyone like a friend. Unless Keith is there and hurt/ in danger, in which case Cerberus lives up to his name.****

 ** **Gravtron1 and I came up with this idea just over 24 hours ago, and ran with it. XD Be sure to check out Gravtron1's**** ** _ **Not a Chew Toy**_** ** **, featuring Keith and Kosmo, and fact that Keith will never live this down.****


	4. Enemy of My Enemy

**A/N: A while ago, Shiranai Atsune gave me some story prompt ideas. This is the first of (hopefully) three stories. This one has some Lance and Lotor friendship.**

 **There is one rule you need to follow before you read this: no thinking. Lance and Red's connection is more pronounced than I normally write; Lotor doesn't act like his canon self, and timing prevents this from taking place in my** ** _The Fifth General_** **AU. I realized when I was writing it, that Lotor and Lance were coming across as sounding like Pitch and Jack Frost in** ** _Definitely Not Friends_** **(some of the scenes are very similar as well). Not typical, but I like the dynamic.**

 **Synopsis: (Requested by Shiranai Atsune) Lotor had a plan. Crash-landing, then finding an injured Lance with neither side's team in sight was not part of the plan.**

 **Rating: T**

 **Genres: Humor/Friendship**

* * *

If there was one thing that Lotor would admit about the paladins, it was that they were certainly persistent.

In the most recent battle, the Red Lion's paladin had allowed himself to get toyed away from the others. Lotor had led the Lion on a wild chase that easily outpaced all the other Lions. Before long, it was just Lotor's ship and the Lion.

That hadn't been part of the plan.

The paladins were pretty big on the whole "stay together" bit, and the plan had been to lead all the Lions in the direction that Lotor was headed. Instead, he had one very pzealous and very fast Lion on his tail.8

As the pair zipped through an asteroid belt around a small planet, Lotor decided he was done with the little game of chase.

With a flick of the controls, his ship came to an abrupt stop. He spun the thrusters around to dodge around the oncoming Lion, only for the Lion to move just as quickly to the side.

The Lion's head smashed right through the right wing of Lotor's ship, throwing them both into a wild spin. Lotor's ship ricocheted off several asteroids, before he was able to wretch it back under control. He turned in the cockpit to see the Red Lion's back hurtling toward him.

Lotor's jerk on the controls wasn't enough, and the Lion crashed into the ship. Lotor was thrown against the console, but quickly sat up with no serious injury. The Red Lion was still drifting through the asteroids, as though the pilot had lost control or consciousness. It moved out of the asteroids, and started to get drawn into the planet's atmosphere.

After a tick, Lotor realized he had the same dilemma. He fired his thrusters, but the whole ship was struggling too much to move him to safety. He was quickly pulled in behind the Red Lion and soon found himself plummeting for the ground.

Lotor squinted, seeing a mass of rocks just ahead. The planet's upper atmospheres must have been very short, for the ground to already be close.

Not that Lotor was complaining. With his damaged ship, his chances of slowing the ship enough to land safely was very low.

Lotor braced himself for impact with the ground, only for the ship to strike the rocks and break through. Splinters of stone spun around the ship, clearing quickly to reveal open air once again and more ground very, very far away.

Galra didn't panic, and so neither did Lotor. He persisted with the controls, all while alarms screamed at him. Eventually, the remaining engine flared to life, but it was only enough to slow the ship's descent. It still struck the ground -which didn't break away this time- with enough force to throw Lotor into the console and cause the Galran prince to black out.

* * *

Lotor's eyes snapped open. He took in the dim cockpit lit only by the red emergency lights. It was relatively intact, though the right wall was dented and had a gash in it. The main port was cracked, and the front point was compressed against a large boulder that blocked Lotor's view.

Lotor slid himself into a standing position and stretched. His joints popped and he was sore, but he'd come out of crashes worse off than that before. Even the dried blood that prodding fingers found on his forehead wasn't cause of concern.

The biggest concern to Lotor just then was the Red Lion. The Lion must have crashed at least somewhere nearby, and that meant there was likely to be a very angry paladin and Lion coming after him very soon. And with his ship in this condition, there was no way for Lotor to defend himself or fight back.

Lotor powered up the console and tried the comms. "Acxa, come in."

Static was Lotor's response. He frowned and tried a few dials, but he still didn't hear Acxa. He tried the scanners, and found the results to be just as staticky. Either the ship was more damaged than he had first thought, or something was jamming his transmissions.

Lotor left the console and made his way to the back of his ship, just realizing the slant that it stood on. He shrugged it off; as long as the door wasn't jammed, he didn't care about the condition of the ship.

The door, thankfully, opened easily and Lotor stepped outside.

It wasn't just the ship that was dark, Lotor realized, it was where he had landed. There was nothing but stone and a few scattered bunches of brush. Valley walls surrounded Lotor's ship, which had fallen under an outcrop of the wall.

The ship's position was actually a good place to lay low while he waited for the generals to catch up, Lotor decided. There was enough supplies to last for a movement, if there wasn't any resources he could use, if it came down to that.

First things first, though, was to get a better idea of his surroundings. The valley was empty of anyone besides Lotor, but that didn't mean that the Red Lion or -Ancients forbid- all of Voltron wasn't nearby.

Lotor walked along the wall until he found a vertical section with plenty of cracks and ledges to use while climbing. He started his ascent cautiously, finding many loose sections of stone.

When he paused about halfway up to study a chunk of stone that had broken off in his hand, he noticed that the edges were still pointed and rough. The stone had been damaged recently, likely from his ship colliding with the walls, and that was why he found so many hand- and foot-holds.

Moving on with renewed caution on the freshly damaged wall, it took only a few more doboshes to reach the top. Lotor paused low enough to remain out of sight of anyone who might have been at the top.

He waited for five doboshes, and didn't hear any sounds to indicate paladins or any other forms of life. That determined, Lotor moved his hands over the edge and pulled himself up.

If anyone had been around to witness the way Lotor slipped down and nearly fell, he would have told them it was because his foot-holds had broken.

Reasoning aside, Lotor slid several feet before his foot jammed into a crack and one hand found a ledge. He paused to listen again and take a deep breath, ignoring the blood that now trickled down his face from hitting the wall when he slipped and the pain from his shoulder from his right hand halting his slide.

The Red Lion was right on the edge of the valley wall, head on the ground. Lotor had been face-to-jaw with it when he raised himself over the edge.

Lotor glanced down for a path back to the valley, then realized that the Lion hadn't moved. It was possible that the paladin hadn't seen him and that the Lion's scanners were being blocked as well.

Or, perhaps the Lion had been damaged as well. It was unusual to see the Lions with their heads on the ground like that unless the paladins were going in or out, and the Lion's mouth had been closed.

Against his better judgement, Lotor picked his way back to the top and peered over the edge.

Lotor had been correct about the Lion's position. Studying the Lion, Lotor now saw that it was sprawled on the ground instead of crouched. Its eyes were dark.

Curiosity got the best of Lotor, and he pulled himself up to the top of the wall. He walked closer, then froze when there was a low rumble that slightly shook the ground. Now it moved?

The Red Lion's eyes glowed. Its body shifted to drag its paws out from under it and place them on either side of its head. Moving slowly, the Lion lifted its head and repositioned its paws so that it crouched.

For a long dobosh, neither moved. There was no question now that Lotor had been seen, but the Lion wasn't going on the attack. Eventually, Lotor spoke.

"I suppose it is some honor thing amongst the paladins to not squash the enemy unless he is capable of fighting back?" he drawled. "Or are you waiting for back-up before you confront me?"

There was no response. Lotor waited, instead of going back to his ship. If the paladin wasn't going to hurt or capture him, he didn't see the harm in waiting to see who's back-up arrived first.

After another few doboshes, Lotor began to wonder if it wasn't the paladin who was damaged. The red paladin -whose name Lotor had learned was Lance through conversation between the paladins during battle- was inevitably talkative, and would normally be outside by now. If nothing else, then to challenge Lotor with his overabundance of words that Lotor found annoying.

But the paladin still didn't show itself, and the Red Lion hadn't budged.

"I do not know what game you are playing, but I am tiring of it," Lotor finally said. "Farewll, paladin."

Lotor turned away. This should have received a response, but the Lion didn't move. Lotor stepped to the edge, then paused. He turned.

"Something is wrong with your paladin, is it not?" Lotor asked the Red Lion.

The Red Lion growled. The fact that it responded confirmed Lotor's suspicions.

"Well, one less paladin to deal with, I suppose," Lotor said casually.

The Red Lion snarled and raised itself. Lotor put up his hands defensively.

"Calm, Red Lion. If the stories are true and the Lions can read intentions, you know that the death of your paladin is not my wish."

The Red Lion stilled, but its growl didn't stop. Lotor took that as progress.

"Is your paladin conscious?" Of course, he didn't get a response. "I will assume that he either is unconscious or too badly injured to speak with me." Lotor mused, both to the Lion and himself. He looked up at the Lion. "May I see him?"

The Lion made a rumble that somehow conveyed a sense of, "you must be joking."

"If your paladin is injured, you cannot help him," Lotor said. "And since you have not yet left, that leads me to believe that you are still repairing yourself. Will your paladin last that long?"

The Lion growled long and hard. It moved a paw to plant firmly beside Lotor, who was careful to not flinch. From the same stories that had taught that the Lions could sense intentions, Lotor knew that the Red Lion was fierce and temperamental. To gain its trust, Lotor would have to be firm and not allow himself to get scared off.

As if.

The Red Lion lowered its head to ground level again and rumbled at Lotor. After a dobosh of neither moving, the Lion gave a warning growl and opened its mouth.

"Thank you," Lotor said, saluting in Galran fashion.

Lotor hurried inside. The main hold of the Lion had a few crates, all of which lay in splinters with their provisional supplies scattered across the hold. The Lion must have lost its gravity and power much sooner than Lotor, for everything to be such a mess.

Lotor moved into a passageway to the side, and found it led to the cockpit. There he found Lance, whose condition was worse than Lotor had thought.

Lance was on the floor. His breathing came in harsh, ragged gasps that shook his frame. Through his shattered visor, Lotor could see blood dribbling from between his lips. A bit of blood seeped through cracks in his armor. His left leg was twisted unnaturally between the chair and console.

"Oh, Ancients help me," Lotor muttered, crouching beside the injured paladin.

Lotor did possess healing magic, but he had limits. He could repair a broken bone or heal gashes on the skin, but not both at once. And if the struggle Lance was having breathing was any indication, there was likely some internal damage as well, something Lotor had never fixed.

Under the circumstances, Lotor supposed he could patch up the internal injuries as well as he could. The broken leg and surface injuries would have to heal naturally. But, healing even minimal injuries would leave Lotor too exhausted to properly care for the other injuries.

The Red Lion rumbled. Lotor looked up in annoyance. It didn't really expect its paladin to be healed in a tick, did it?

The Lion rumbled again, more gently this time. Lotor got the sense that it was trying to tell him something, and closed his eyes.

A touch of quintessence prodded at Lotor's mind, startling him into opening his eyes. After a tick, he realized what the Lion intended: it would provide him the power to heal Lance!

There wasn't time to waste questioning how -or even if- the Lion's plan would work. Lance was only growing worse.

Lotor nodded to the Lion. He carefully pried off Lance's helmet and put a hand to his forehead, then his other hand on the cockpit floor. For this to work, he had to maintain contact on both the paladin and the Lion.

With the Red Lion feeding him power and knowledge of its paladin's anatomy, Lotor was able to search out the internal injuries and heal the ruptured veins and organs. Once that was complete, Lotor had the touchy job of removing Lance's armor. He sealed the gash in Lance's chest caused by the broken armor, then moved onto his leg. The Lion's flow of quintessence was rapidly waning, though. Lotor moved onto the leg with more speed than he liked. Lance groaned -the first noise he had made- when Lotor pulled the leg into the proper position. A quick burst of quintessence was all he had left to work with, only healing the limb half-way, but it would have to do.

Lotor sat back. He felt tired, but not as drained as he usually felt after healing. He still had the strength to stand up and inspect his and the Lion's handiwork.

The gash was still raw and red, but at least it wasn't bleeding anymore. He had discovered several more cuts on Lance's arms, but there hadn't been time to heal them. His leg needed a brace before he was moved, but the fix would hold until he could get to a pod. With his lungs fixed, Lance was breathing much easier.

"Well, Red Lion, your paladin will live to fight another day," Lotor said.

The Lion didn't respond. Curious, Lotor went outside and saw that the Lion was flat on the ground again. Its eyes were dark. Lance might have been patched up, but now his Lion was going to have a longer time at recovering.

Lotor had the fleeting thought that now would be a great time for the generals to show up. With Lance unconscious and the Red Lion so low on power, it would be easy pickings.

Then again, Lotor didn't really want to capture a Lion and paladin. That was his father's obsession, not his. As surprising as the paladins might find it, Lotor actually wanted the whole team alive and fighting. Just as long as it was with Zarkon, and not him.

Lotor looked at the sky. He wasn't sure how much time had passed since the crash, but it must have been long enough for one of their teams to catch up. It was odd for either side to take so long; the paladins were likely eager to get their friend back, and the generals would have retreated from the fight once they realized that Lotor's plan hadn't gone the way it should.

While Lotor thought, his eyes fell on the stone in the sky. Something in the atmosphere was holding them there. If it was due to magnetics, that would explain why the generals were not receiving his transmissions and the other paladins hadn't tracked down the missing Lion.

Lotor's study turned to their surroundings. The ground was mostly stone, with a few patches of dirt. Stumpy trees grew hardily in cracks in the stone, with taller trees in sections of dirt. Some scraggly bushes sprouted from the stone in places. There wasn't any signs of animal life, though it was possible that any in the area had been scared off by the crash.

Lotor frowned at the lack of resources in the immediate area, preferring to save his provisions.

"I will be back," Lotor said, even though no one around was alert enough to hear.

Lotor climbed back into the valley and made his way back to his ship. There, he gathered up his provisions, grabbed a scanner and medical kit, then headed back to the Red Lion.

Lance was still unconscious in the cockpit. Lotor set about wrapping the wounds he hadn't been able to heal. For the leg, Lotor searched the Lion's hold until he found two boards that were about the right size and intact, then tied the boards around Lance's leg.

Once he was done with Lance, Lotor went back outside. The sky -what he could see past the stone layer- was still empty and it was starting to get dark.

"Looks like we are spending the night here," Lotor said as he returned to the cockpit. "I hope you don't mind camping out."

Lance groaned. Lotor watched him, but he didn't wake up. Lotor returned outside to get a better idea of where they would be staying.

A quick hike found more of the same setting all around them. He did glimpse a few large animals vanishing into the brush, but they were too skittish for Lotor to get close.

Since it was getting dark, Lotor gathered some dead wood that laid abuntantly on the ground and brought it back to where the Red Lion laid. A fire wasn't entirely necessary -going inside the Red Lion would protect them from predators and the air was remaining fairly warm- but it would provide a way to be noticed if anyone came searching in the night.

Once he got a fire going, Lotor went back to the Lion's cockpit to an unconscious Lance. Rather than try to carry the boy and risk jarring the leg, Lotor put together a stretcher using more wood and a rubbery cloak he found in the hold. He carefully slid Lance onto the stretcher, then dragged the stretcher into the open air and laid it down beside the fire.

Lotor sat across the fire from Lance, and rubbed his shoulder. It didn't hurt much, it was definitely the most sore part on him.

Lotor stared into the fire for a dobosh before lowering his hand and standing. He went into the Lion's hold and searched the mess until he found a couple bedrolls. He carefully maneuvered Lance onto one of the bedrolls, then set up his own.

Then, he turned around to see a red-and-white rifle pointed at him. Outwardly, he didn't show his surprise, but he inwardly tensed.

"You're awake," Lotor said smoothly.

"Wha' happ'ned?" Lance asked, words slurring. "Wh're are we?"

"We crashed. As far as I am aware, this planet is unnamed," Lotor said. He studied Lance while the boy processed the information.

Lance had gotten himself sitting up, propped up on one hand. With only one hand holding the rifle, his aim was rather shaky. Actually, all of Lance was shaky. His lanky body weaved like he could fall over any tick. His eyes were cloudy.

"Maybe you should lay down," Lotor said once it became clear that Lance wasn't going to talk.

Lance shook his head, making his whole body sway. "G'tta keep'n eye on ya."

"Whatever makes you happy," Lotor said.

Lance blinked and squinted at Lotor, likely trying to figure out what sort of trick he had planned. Granted, that would have been the case if the situation was a little more normal, but Lotor currently didn't have anything planned to fool the paladin.

"I'm g'nna lay down," Lance slurred after a bit.

"You do that."

Lance slid slowly down to his back, keeping his rifle pointed in Lotor's general direction. Lotor didn't move, simply waited until Lance had settled down.

"How do you feel?" Lotor asked. To his surprise, Lance answered.

"My head h'rts… 'rms sore… c'n't feel my leg."

Lotor nodded to the response. Lance not being able to feel his leg was worrying, and he hoped it was just because he wasn't fully awake.

"How'd we cr'sh?" Lance asked. "Blue n'ver cr'shed."

Lotor's brows rose. "Boy, you're thinking of the wrong Lion."

"Blue, Blue," Lance murmured in a sing-song voice. "Bootif'l Blue."

"I do believe you have lost your mind," Lotor said drily.

Lance snorted and waved a hand at Lotor. "You l'st it."

Lotor didn't want to argue with Lance when he was so obviously out of it. He wondered if Lance had received a concussion in the crash, or if he normally acted like that when he was hurting. Maybe it was a human thing.

Lance narrowed his eyes at Lotor. "Wh're you? You're n't Blue."

Definitely concussion.

"I need to check your head," Lotor said, standing.

Lance blinked owlishly at Lotor as he crouched beside the boy. Lotor carefully pried away the rifle and set it to the side. Lance whined at the weapon being moved away, but he didn't fight.

Lotor found a good-sized bump on the back of Lance's head. He sighed in annoyance at the fragile human. He'd have to make sure to check on Lance throughout the night.

"I do not understand how the lot of you humans are supposed to be the one to defeat Zarkon," Lotor said bluntly.

"Y're bleeding," Lance slurred.

Lotor touched his forehead and found the dried blood on his forehead. He blinked, realizing he had been too distracted to clean himself off yet.

"It's just a scratch," Lotor stated.

"G'nna get inf'cted," Lance whined.

"What? No, it won't."

"G'nna get inf'cted," Lance persisted.

"Okay, okay, I'll take care of it."

Lotor left Lance and grabbed a wipe from the medical kit. He cleaned up the blood around the scrape -that's all it was, despite Lance's dramatics- then turned back to Lance.

"Happy?"

Lance mumbled something, nodding. In the next tick, his eyes closed and he fell back to sleep. Lotor shook his head as he went to his bedroll.

* * *

Lotor woke the next morning with a start. He sat up quickly and glanced over the smoldering remains of the fire.

Lance was awake and sitting up. He was watching him with his bayard held against his chest.

"What happened?" Lance asked, bearing only a trace of a slur.

"We crashed," Lotor said simply.

Lance stared at him, then his gaze turned to his splinted leg. "You did this?"

"And patched you up from the inside out," Lotor said. He wasn't bragging, just stating facts.

Lance's eyes widened. "What? How?"

"Altean magic. And some help from the Red Lion."

Lance glanced back at the mention of his Lion, then he focused on Lotor again. "You're Altean?"

Lotor didn't respond. Eventually, Lance lost interest and turned his head away. Lance was quiet, compared to what Lotor normally saw in the paladin.

"You have a concussion," Lotor informed Lance, making him look back.

"Explains the headache," Lance said with a wince. "Hey, where's the other four?"

Took him long enough. "I told you that we crashed. It was just your Lion and my ship."

Lance's expression turned slightly panicked. "No one knows where we are?"

"They are likely in the area," Lotor said. "If we are patient, they will find us."

"And then what?"

Lotor knew what Lance was asking. "We go our separate ways."

"Great theory, but are you honestly going to just let a paladin of Voltron go?"

"I have no interest in capturing you or your Lion."

"But, Zarkon-"

"I do not share my father's interest in the Lions."

"So… why are you always attacking us?"

Lotor studied the embers before speaking. "The legends say that the bond between paladins is something that no normal being can attain. That the bond between Lion and paladin allows them to do amazing things, and defeat any enemy. I wish to see if the legends are true."

"You're testing us? Wow, you sure don't go easy on us," Lance said with a half-smirk.

"Why should I? You have a long way to go before you are ready to defeat my father."

"Um, Zarkon's dead," Lance said.

"Is he? The witch has powers that you cannot even begin to comprehend. Do you really think that my father is gone for good?"

"Yes?" Lance squeaked.

Lotor scoffed and stood. Lance tensed, hand tightening on his bayard. Lotor went to his provisions to pull out a water pack. He held it out to Lance, who took it slowly and suspiciously. Ignoring him, Lotor got a water pack for himself and took a long drink. Lance eventually followed suit, the water making him perk up some.

"And if your companions come before my generals?" Lotor asked.

Lance coughed. "Oh, uh.. I don't know. We've never had to deal with a situation like this. I mean, you saved my life, but Keith…"

Right, the hot-headed leader. Something told Lotor that it would be impossible to convince the black paladin -not to mention the princess- to not hold him as prisoner. Lotor would have to be prepared for that possibility.

Lance was still frowning in thought. Lotor waved a hand in front of his face, and it took a couple ticks for Lance to notice.

"What?"

"Focus," Lotor said shortly, standing.

"On what?" Lance asked. He watched Lotor, but he didn't go on the defensive. Lotor wasn't sure if it was because Lance knew he wasn't in danger, or if it was because of the concussion messing with his head.

"Can your Lion fly?" Lotor asked.

Lance looked at the Red Lion. "I don't know. If he could, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be letting you this close to me. He's got a protective streak a mile wide."

Lotor glanced at the immobile Lion. "Currently, your Lion is our best shot at being found. None of our transmissions have been reaching our companions."

"That explains a few things."

Lance didn't say exactly what those things were. He didn't say anything else, actually. Soon after, he grabbed his head and started moaning.

"Easy, paladin," Lotor murmured, going to Lance and helping him lay down.

Lance squinted at Lotor with glazed eyes for a few ticks before his eyes closed. Less than a dobosh later, his breathing evened out as he drifted back to sleep.

Lotor explored the area a bit more, and found the same nothing as before. There wasn't anything that appeared edible to Lotor, meaning the only food they had was what Lotor had and anything that might be in the Red Lion.

When Lotor returned to the Red Lion, he saw that its eyes were glowing. It shifted its position, and Lance startled awake at the motion. Red's rumble was one of pleasure, and it lowered its massive head to rest beside Lance.

"Red! How are you?" Lance crooned at his Lion.

Lotor stood at the edge of their makeshift campsite, feeling like he was intruding. Lance noticed him after a few ticks and waved him over.

"It's okay," Lance said, placing a hand on Red's muzzle.

"I do not believe the Red Lion would have let me drag you from the cockpit if it thought otherwise," Lotor said.

Lance blinked at him. "You did what?"

Lotor refrained from rolling his eyes. "How do you think you found yourself on a stretcher, outside?"

"Um…" Lance lowered his eyes awkwardly.

"You didn't notice?"

"I have a concussion," Lance said defensively.

"That's no excuse."

"You sound like Keith," Lance said, crossing his arms and pouting.

Lotor thought that Lance was acting like Ezor when she was in an especially trying mood, but he didn't say that out loud. When Lotor gave him no response, Lance huffed.

"For being the son of the Galra warlord, you're pretty dull," Lance informed him.

Lotor cocked an eyebrow. "What did you expect?"

"I dunno," Lance said with a shrug. "Torture, questions, chains."

"I can give you those if you would like."

"Yeah… no. I'm going to go with no," Lance said, shaking his head.

"I had a feeling you would say that."

Lance's eyes lit up. "Hey, that was a joke, wasn't it! Gee, and I thought Keith's jokes stunk."

"You do not think much of Galra, do you?"

"Just your ability to be funny."

Lotor gave Lance a searching look, wondering why the paladin was being so open. Perhaps it was a ruse, but to what end?

"That's when you laugh," Lance grumbled. "You're so worse than Keith."

Lance looked down and continued to mutter under his breath. Lotor sighed as he realized that Lance's behavior was no trick.

"How is your head?" Lotor asked tiredly.

"Still hurts," Lance said.

Lotor looked up at the Red Lion. It was a bad idea to mess with head injuries, almost as bad as nerve damage. The Lion rumbled and moved its head away.

"Aw, now Red's talking to you?" Lance demanded.

Lotor looked at Lance. He was frowning at his hands.

"Your Lion is not talking to me," Lotor assured him.

"Why are you helping me?" Lance asked without lifting his eyes. "I thought I was the enemy."

"You are," Lotor said simply.

Lance's brows raised. "Okay… so, why the help?"

"I have already explained, against my better judgement," Lotor said.

"That junk about us defeating Zarkon? You can't be serious." Lance blinked and looked at Lotor. "Is Zarkon your enemy, too?"

Lotor didn't respond. He'd already said too much, and found himself hoping that Lance would forget everything that had been said.

Unfortunately, Lance was more clear-headed than before. "Are you saying that we share -shared- a common enemy? We have a saying for that back on Earth."

"That is not what I am saying," Lotor started.

"It goes, 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend,'" Lance interrupted. He stared at Lotor with almost fever-bright eyes.

"My fight is with Voltron," Lotor lied. "And it is a fight that I prefer to take to all of Voltron. I can hardly do that if you had died."

Lance's expression saddened. Lotor at first thought it was because of his denial, until Lance spoke.

"Red can always pick another paladin."

Lotor blinked. "Do you really think so lowly of yourself, boy? A bond between Lion and paladin is not something temporary or fake. It goes beyond life itself, and you want to just throw it away?"

"It's not really throwing it away when it was never meant to be mine," Lance snapped back.

The Lion stood up and roared. Lotor and Lance flinched away from each other, lifting guilty eyes to the Red Lion.

"Sorry, boy," Lance murmured sheepishly.

Red rumbled and moved a paw to curl around the campsite. Lotor couldn't help but notice that he had been included this time. He brushed it off as the Lion's paw being to big to go between the two, when Lance turned a beaming grin at him.

"Don't give Red that look. He could have easily knocked you away if he didn't want you here."

"Why would your Lion want me here?" Lotor asked in a dismissive tone. "What injuries remain, will heal naturally. With or without me."

"'Enemy of my enemy is my friend,'" Lance repeated. "Right here, right now, we aren't enemies."

"And what of when rescue comes?"

"Then Red's gonna kick your butt."

Lotor had nothing to say to that. He did, though, return Lance's smirk with a smaller one of his own. Above them, the Lion rumbled contentedly and coiled another paw around so that its paws completely surrounded the pair.

* * *

When the next day arrived with no sign of help, Lotor began to worry. Lance had revealed that his Lion had a large store of supplies -apparently, the yellow Paladin, Hunk, worried about anyone getting stranded without food- but Lance would recover better if he was in a pod. Lance was rather nonchalant about his injuries, surprisingly.

"Relax, we do this all the time on Earth," Lance said when Lotor hinted at his leg possibly not healing fast enough. "We don't have pods or magic to heal, so we have to just put it in a splint and wait for the bones to heal naturally."

"That sounds tedious," Lotor said skeptically.

"It can be," Lance admitted. "But, you gotta do what you gotta do."

Lotor chuckled slightly at the statement. Oh, how true that was in his life.

"Hey, could you find me two sticks?" Lance abruptly asked. "Both the same size, between the height of your elbow and shoulder. Preferably with a fork on one end."

"For what?" Lotor asked, standing.

"I'm going to need some crutches. From what Red has shown me, it should be healed enough for me to walk as long as I have crutches."

"Your Lion showed you?"

"Um… kinda? I mean, I was wondering if I could walk, and Red gave me the sense that it should be fine." Lance shrugged. "It's a paladin thing."

"I see."

Lotor went to the pile of sticks that he had set aside to break down for firewood. He searched the pile until he found six sticks that looked like Lance had described, then carried them to Lance. The paladin eagerly checked the sticks like he had been given a grand gift.

After discarding three of the sticks -one too curved, one splindly at the end, and one had no forks- Lance spread the three remaining sticks in front of him. He measured them side-by-side, then picked up the two that were closest in height.

Lance set the sticks on either side of himself, then drew his good leg under him. He pushed himself up on his leg and hands until he rose into an awkward crouch with his splinted leg sticking out in front of him. Then, he took the sticks and used them to push himself into a standing position.

"Tah-dah!" Lance exclaimed triumphantly, then wobbled.

"Your balance astounds me," Lotor drawled.

Lance jutted his chin out. "Thank you."

Lotor shook his head, silently glad that Lance was acting more like his normal, odd self.

Lance shuffled around a bit with the crutches, wearing a grin that was steadily growing. Then, he lost his balance and stumbled into Lotor, who easily caught him.

"Oops, sorry," Lance apologized. "Takes a bit to get back into the… _swing_ of things."

He smirked at the last bit, but Lotor didn't see the joke. Lance sighed at Lotor and stood up straight again.

"Still boring."

Lance took a few steps. His legs swung between the crutches, causing Lotor to understand the joke that Lance had attempted.

"Hey, I'm pretty good at this," Lance decided after a few doboshes of limping around. "We should explore."

"That does not sound like a good idea," Lotor said. "We do not know what sort of creatures inhabit this planet. And if we want our companions to find us, we had best stay put."

"First rule of getting lost," Lance said irritably. "Stay put and wait for help to find you."

"Good advice," Lotor said.

Lance hummed, glancing up at the Red Lion. "I think Red will be ready to get out of here at the end of the quintant, if no one finds us by then."

Lotor nodded silently. Lance hopped around a couple more times, then stopped with a thoughtful frown. Lotor was fairly certain that he knew what Lance was thinking, and changed the conversation before it could start.

"We can give the perimeter a quick check. We will see if anyone is coming."

Lance's eyes brightened. He eagerly hopped along behind Lotor, grinning at their dreary surroundings as if he had never seen a tree or rocks before.

By the time the pair had returned to camp, Lance was panting from exertion but still grinning. Lotor helped Lance lower himself to the ground. Lotor was moving to prepare some food, when Lance gave a yelp.

Lotor turned quickly, but Lance's exclamation had been one of excitement. He was looking up and pointing at the sky.

"The Castle!"

Lotor looked up reluctantly, and saw the Castle of Lions had entered the gap in the stony atmosphere.

The Red Lion roared and stood. It lifted a paw over the pair and moved to stand over them.

"What are you-" Lance's eyes widened. "Oh, Lotor!"

Lotor turned to him, and saw Lance struggling to his feet. He didn't move as Lance bumbled over to one of the bedrolls. He crouched and stuffed the bedroll under one arm. He tried to stand, but couldn't quite manage the maneuver. He waved an arm at Lotor, frowning.

"Come over here and help, would you?"

Bemused, Lotor went to Lance and rolled up the bedroll. He picked it up himself. Lance stuffed Lotor's supplies into his pack, and handed the pack to Lotor.

"Okay, good. I trust you can climb into the valley?" Lance asked.

"Of course, but why?"

Lance rolled his eyes. "I'm sure your generals are right behind my team. Hide out until my team is gone, then they can pick you up, huh?"

Lotor stared at Lance in disbelief. Lance huffed and flapped his hands at Lotor.

"How dense are you? Shoo! Unless you _want_ to be here when the other paladins get here!"

Lotor finally got himself moving. He started walking toward the edge of the valley. He paused and turned back, just realizing that the Red Lion's position completely hid the pair from sight for anyone above them.

"Why are you letting me go?" Lotor asked.

Lance shrugged. "I told you before that we share a common enemy, so we aren't completely enemies. We're kind of friends now."

"In your dreams," Lotor said, unable to hold back a slight chuckle. He sobered. "But what will you tell your team?"

Lance cocked his head, then gave Lotor a mischievous grin. "Well, I got quite the concussion. I'm not sure if I'll remember any details of what happened down here."

Lotor blinked at Lance in shock, then nodded his thanks. "Just keep in mind. Next time we meet, we are still fighting."

"Of course," Lance laughed. "Now, go on!"

Lotor wasted no more time. He quickly climbed to the bottom of the valley and hid in a dip in the wall. He watched as the Black and Blue Lions flew down. The Black Lion grabbed the Red Lion in its paws and hauled the smaller Lion toward the Castle with the Blue Lion behind.

Lotor trekked back to his ship. He glanced at the sky to see another one of his ships approaching. He reached into his pack for a flare, shaking his head as he thought about the last couple days.

* * *

 **A/N: Welp, that was random, but really fun! I might have to explore this friendship again!**

 **Lance's next-to-last line was based on a line by Commander Rex from the Clone Wars.**


	5. Fallen Father

****A/N: Just had to get this headcannon off my chest and write a little Krolivan. Let's pretend that the team stuck around with Krolia and Kolivan for a couple days.****

 ** **Synopsis: (Takes place in season seven) A conversation with Kolivan in the ruins leads Krolia to saddening news and Keith to realize that maybe the Blades of Marmora are connected in more ways than purpose.****

 ** **Rating: K+****

 ** **Genre: Family****

* * *

Keith stared at the countless blades embedded in the wall. Every one had a different form, as diverse as the Blade of Marmora agents who once wielded them.

Someone walked up behind him, and Keith turned. Krolia was supporting Kolivan -though she didn't look happy that he was up- as he limped slowly to the wall. Kolivan gestured to the side, and Krolia helped him sit again.

"What is it you wanted to show me?" Krolia asked.

Curious, Keith squatted down beside the pair. Kolivan turned his gaze to the wall and trailed a hand across the handles until finally grabbing hold of one. He grunted, then the blade slid free of the wall.

The sword in Kolivan's hand was dinged and chipped on the end. It started thin near the handle, then the blade widened and curved slightly back.

Krolia held out her hand and reverently took the blade. She bowed her head, looking more solemn than Keith remembered seeing her. When she lifted her head, Keith was startled to see tears gleaming in her eyes.

"He was lost to the druids?" Krolia asked softly.

Kolivan shook his head. "No. A deca-pheob before the war between the druids and the Blade of Marmora. He was a spy in Zarkon's army."

"How did you get his sword?" Krolia asked.

"The blade was taken by the druids as evidence. When Lotor took his father's place, all the blades stolen by Zarkon's army was returned to the Blade of Marmora. I was carrying it when Macidus tricked us."

"Thank you for returning it to me." Krolia ran a finger down the marred surface. "How… how long did he suffer in prison?"

"Very little time. He freed himself, then sacrificed himself to fulfill the mission. He was a true Blade of Marmora."

"How did you find out that he was gone?" Krolia asked softly.

Kolivan nodded his head at Keith. "Keith was there just before he was lost."

"I was?" Keith asked.

"You were?" Krolia asked at the same time.

"That was Thace's blade," Kolivan said.

Keith's eyes widened as he looked at the blade in Krolia's hands. "Yeah. I didn't see him for long, but… he was a great guy."

"Tell me what happened," Krolia said.

So Keith did. He told Krolia about infiltrating Zarkon's ship and finding the crystal room, only for his attempts to power down the ship to be in vain. He explained how Thace had come to try the same thing, and the two of them had been confronted by soldiers and druids. He enthusiastically spoke of them fighting together, then his voice lowered when he got to the part of Thace rigging the crystal to blow and covering Keith as he made his escape.

When Keith's voice finally trailed off, no one spoke. A tear, then two, dripped onto Thace's sword. Krolia grunted and started to wipe the blade clean.

"How do you know Thace?" Keith asked. Krolia had recognized many of the swords in the wall, but none of them had had such an affect on her.

Krolia scraped off a speck of dirt with her fingernail and lifted Thace's blade to study it better in the light. She lowered it, then turned her teary eyes Keith.

"Thace was your grandfather."

Keith's eyes widened. The thought of grandparents was slightly foreign to him, having never met his paternal grandparents and obviously maternal grandparents had never been an option to him.

Then another thought struck him. "So, Thace was your father?"

Krolia smiled slightly, holding the sword to her chest. "He was the only family I had left. My mother died on a mission when I was young. I didn't see him much, with his position in Zarkon's army. Then I left to become an officer under Ranveig. It never occurred to me that I would never see him again."

"Thace was a worthy agent," Kolivan said, grunting a little between his words. "If it hadn't been for him, we couldn't have survived the battle with Zarkon's army."

"He wouldn't have had it any other way," Krolia said fondly.

Krolia briefly closed her eyes, then stood and attached Thace's sword to her belt. "Come, Kolivan, back to bed with you."

"No need to fuss," Kolivan grunted as Krolia helped him stand.

"You need someone to fuss over you," Krolia tsked. "Look what happens when I leave you alone."

Keith watched the pair move slowly off, thinking. Krolia's father had been a Marmoran agent and it sounded like her mother had been as well. Kolivan always made it sound like the Blades of Marmora couldn't develop friendships, never mind being married.

He watched Krolia fuss over Kolivan despite his protests. Kolivan didn't seem to be trying __too__ hard to be left alone. And it was impossible to miss how they would both occasionally pause and look into each others' eyes.

Keith smiled. Maybe the Blades of Marmora were more connected to each other than he had ever thought.


	6. Find Your Place

****A/N: Contains slight headcannon, issues they had better address in season seven, and a question from season one.****

 ** **I needed some side characters to fill gaps, so, for simplicities sake, I used characters from Distant Memories. You don't have to have read it. Olia is from season four of Voltron (I just gave her a background), Eni is a background Balmaran from the Reunion episode who specializes in communications, and Renus is an Olkari skilled in medicine.****

 ** **Synopsis: The war is over, and it's time to heal and go home. But, as the paladins learn, not all wounds are physical and not everyone considers their home planet home. (Unrelated to all of my other post-season six stories.)****

 ** **Rating: K+****

 ** **Genres: Family/Hurt/Comfort****

* * *

Matt had been on the move basically non-stop since the paladins had left for diplomatic missions and some project that Lotor said he needed Allura's assistance with. There were bases to connect with, supply routes to track, rogue Galra to keep track of, and so many aliens hoping to find their home in the chaotic universe that was slowly starting to realize peace was coming.

After a particularly long mission escorting some freedom fighters' families to their home planet, Matt had been given permission to take a break back on Olkarion.

Accompanied by his friends Olia and Eni, Matt had gratefully taken up Lt. Ozar's offer. There hadn't been time recently to check on the paladins, and there were some distressing rumors spreading from some of the planets.

Reports of unusually strong energy readings comparable to nothing that had ever been seen, massive firefights visible from galaxies away, and growing whispers that something had happened to Lotor. Not to mention the stories that Matt knew to be true, such as Haggar still running free and the return of a Galran general named Sendak.

Matt figured he had been out of contact with Team Voltron long enough; it was time to figure out what was rumor and what was truth, and hope the universe could survive it.

* * *

Olia pulled in their ship for a landing, and the trio clambered out. Matt stretched and closed his eyes, reveling in the feel of sun on his face after the week-long flight to a distinctly sunless planet. Opening his eyes, he gazed happily around.

Since the Galra had begun to turn peaceful per Lotor's command, many were just plain leaving the planets they had had control of. Turned out, few Galra generals actually enjoyed the enslaving of a planet. With each passing day, more reports of freed planets flowed in. Aliens were tracking down family and home planets, meaning Olkarion was much quieter than the last time. Only a week, and it seemed the number of displaced aliens had halved.

Everyone who remained was cheerful and optimistic. Even a few Galra had been popping up on the rebel bases -usually convinced to come with some of the aliens they had formerly enslaved- to help the rebels track down family members and home planets.

Anyone who arrived on pretty much any of the bases were welcomed with open arms, and many of the displaced aliens had simply started a new life on the freed planets they had spent most of their life on, anyway. Matt thought the harmony was simply amazing.

"I'm going to find Ryner and get an update," Matt said.

"Always work with you," Eni said with a chuckle. "If you need me, I'll be catching up with the other Balmarans."

Matt nodded. Eni wasn't sure which system his Balmara was in, so he was constantly checking with other Balmarans for any clues.

Matt looked at Olia. "What about you?"

"Ryner's got the updated displaced list, right?" Olia asked. Matt nodded. "I'll come with you."

"Thought you would say that."

It had been forty years since Olia saw another Caneen, and with every new report, there was hopes of her finding another.

Matt and Olia turned toward the Olkari's main building, where they knew they would find Ryner.

* * *

"Matt!"

Matt turned away from the holographic screens at the familiar voice. Renus, another Olkari, was dashing into the room with a huge smile.

"The Voltron paladins have just contacted us! They are nearly here!"

"Finally!" Matt glanced at Ryner.

"Go," laughed the Olkari elder. "It's been movements since you saw your sister."

"Thanks, Ryner! I'll be back!" Matt called over his shoulder.

Matt dashed through the halls, waving to familiar faces but never stopping. The paladins were coming back!

Bursting into daytime, Matt stumbled to a halt. He frowned at the sky, confused at what he was seeing.

The Castle was nowhere to be seen. The Blue, Green, Yellow, and Red Lions were slowly coming in to land, with the Black Lion held in Yellow's claws.

Fearing the worst, Matt broke back into a run. He reached the landing site of the Castle as the Lions touched down. Black was gently sat down, and the other Lions crouched and opened their mouths.

Pidge was the first one out and running toward Matt. Giving a small laugh of relief, he met her halfway and scooped her up. Pidge gave a squeal of delight and demanded to be set down. Matt complied, eyes raising as the others emerged.

Lance came running out of Red, then hesitated before rushing to Blue. He disappeared inside, then came back out a moment later with Allura close beside him. Her hand was on his shoulder, and he watched her with a bit of concern. Coran was behind them. He and an Altean - _ _wait, Altean?!-__ woman was supporting Shiro, who looked… very different. His hair and eyebrows were stark white and his prosthetic was gone.

Matt could have gone on gaping at them, but movement from Yellow divided his attention.

Hunk was leaving Yellow, constantly glancing behind him. He paused at the bottom, and an amazing blue and black-furred wolf bounded down to join them. Behind them, moving very slowly, was Keith -somehow looking older and wearing his paladin armor, strangely- leaning on the shoulder of a Galran woman Matt also didn't recognize. Keith looked like he had been through a war; his armor was scuffed and burned, there was a burn on his right cheek, and he was walking lopsided.

They all paused in a small group between Matt and Pidge, and the Lions. Matt realized how worn out half of them looked. Allura and Shiro seemed ready to fall over. Coran and the Galran had deep shadows under their eyes. Keith had a dazed look in his eyes.

"What happened?" Matt asked, turning to Pidge.

Pidge smirked and grabbed him in another hug, tugging him down to her level. He was a bit startled by the act, then Pidge was whispering in his ear.

"Don't ask about the Castle or Lotor… or Shiro, for that matter. I'll explain later. Um… and don't ask where Romelle came from."

Pidge released him, and Matt pulled back. What had happened to them since he saw them last?

Since questions were unsafe, Matt simply stepped forward to greet everyone. Allura gave him a tired smile, and Lance mimicked it a bit hesitantly. Shiro leaned away from Coran and the Altean to grab him in a surprisingly strong one-armed hug. Coran greeted him with some of his usual vigor, and Hunk grabbed him in a tight hug. Keith smiled at him without leaving the Galran's side.

Curious, Matt stepped closer to Keith. His expression didn't change, and Matt noticed his eyes were a bit glazed.

Matt glanced at Pidge, wondering if his question was a safe one. "Is he, uh…?"

"Painkillers," Pidge responded. "He's got a few busted ribs."

"That explains it." Matt nodded. "I'll round up a medic for you guys."

"It would be much appreciated," said the Galran woman. "My son apparently has a penchant for injuring himself."

"You're telling-" Matt blinked, then swiveled to face her. "I'm sorry, your what?"

"Matt," Keith said, drawling slightly. "This is Krolia. My mom."

Matt blinked a couple more times, watching as amusement filled the others' faces. There __were__ some similarities between Keith and Krolia, Matt had to admit. Their face shape, the confident way they carried themselves… Krolia even had a __mullet__ , for crying out loud!

"Hey, Keith! Paladins!"

Olia's voice startled Matt out of his shock. He turned to see Olia loping toward them, wearing a pleased smile at the sight of the paladins. She straightened onto her hind paws in front of Keith, who just grinned back at her.

"Olia, can you bring everyone to our barracks. With freedom fighters leaving, there will be plenty of room for them. I'll send Renus down to you for Keith and whoever else is injured," Matt said, figuring he would leave the little detail of Keith's mother for the others to explain. He turned to Pidge. "My sister and I have to catch up."

* * *

After finding Renus and sending him to help Olia, Matt and Pidge left the city. They walked slowly through the thickening forest, before Matt stopped beside an old log.

"Sit," Matt said. "What's happened since you left?"

So, Pidge explained about Keith finding Krolia, Allura assisting Lotor in building his ships, the clone Shiro almost killing Keith and the team -Pidge was very short in details about how the team had survived- Keith and Krolia discovering Romelle and the other Alteans, Lotor's mad scheme, the battle in the quintessence field, the sacrifice of the Castle, and Allura bringing Shiro back to life.

"Wait, Allura brought Shiro back to like?" Matt interrupted, his first words since the start of the story.

"Sort of? It was mostly Black who held Shiro's essence for so long, but only Altean alchemy could have done the transferrence."

"Wow," Matt said, his starry-eyed expression making Pidge smirk.

"That was a week ago," Pidge said, wrapping up. "The Lions are fast, but not nearly as fast as a wormhole. Plus, no one has been flying Black. You saw Shiro's condition, and it turns out that Altean medicine really messes with a Galran immune system. Keith hasn't been coherent for the last week, but the injuries were too bad for him to go without. Allura often doesn't feel up to flying, so Lance or I have to haul Blue."

"Well, I guess that's why everyone looks so worn out," Matt said, unable to really think of anything else to say.

"Yeah. Shiro literally was brought back to life, and it's taking time for him to get his strength back. We think Allura might have given some of her own life force in bringing Shiro back, and between the Castle and worry over Allura, Coran's lost a lot of sleep. Keith's recovering from broken ribs, burns, and a generally beaten body. Krolia's been spending her every waking minute with him, and we're all afraid she's going to make herself sick."

"How are you holding up?" Matt asked, wrapping his arm around Pidge.

"I'm fine."

Matt moved a hand to gently tip her chin up. "Are you sure?"

"I'm fine," Pidge repeated, but her voice cracked.

"Pidge?"

Pidge took a steadying breath, but still couldn't stop her voice from wavering. "I guess…. I had better tell you." She drew back to look Matt in the eye. "Do you know what the scariest part of this whole thing has been?"

Matt silently shook his head.

"It wasn't Lotor's betrayal, or his twisted attempts to get us to join him. Not hearing about Keith's narrow escapes, or the battle in the quintessence field. Not even that evil clone Shiro almost killing us all. It's __this.__ "

Pidge fumbled through her packs, drawing out a thumb drive and thrusting it into Matt's hands. Her brother startled at the act, but caught it. With his hands distracted, Pidge pushed away, distancing herself from the thumb drive.

"What is it?" Matt asked gently.

"That-" Pidge shook, but was determined to explain. "That's the kill code for Shiro's Galra arm. With it, I could have entirely shut-" Pidge broke off with a choked sob.

She could have turned off the arm. Shut it down completely. In the process, Shiro -clone or not- would have died.

Matt gave a soft gasp, and tucked the thumb drive out of sight. He grabbed Pidge close, and the last of her resolve crumbled. Clutching Matt's robes, Pidge pushed herself into his embrace and openly cried.

* * *

Matt was… furious. His sister, the youngest of the paladins, had just spent a half hour crying her eyes out over the code she had been carrying for the last year. From the sounds of it, she had been the only one capable of saving the team from clone Shiro's attack, but had anyone checked on her to make sure she was coping? She was __sixteen__ , she shouldn't have had to deal with it alone.

Matt's anger only grew when Pidge, exhausted from her crying, leaned heavily on him when it came time to go back to the city. After only a few minutes of watching her stumble through the forest, Matt halted. He crouched and turned his back to Pidge. After a moment, he felt her clamber onto the offered back. He made sure she was secure, then marched back toward the city.

As they reached the base, Pidge tucked her still-wet face into Matt's cloak. His face hardened further, and he made a beeline for the barracks.

He fully intended to go straight to the others, and demand to know why no one had thought to check on Pidge. As soon as he entered, though, he came to a very abrupt halt.

It wasn't just Pidge.

Lance was watching over Allura and Shiro, rubbing at his eyes. Allura seemed restless in her sleep and Shiro just laid too still, prompting Lance to constantly check for a pulse. Hunk was trying to get Coran into bed, but the weary advisor insisted on being at Allura's side. Keith -having been changed into looser clothing- was dead to the world as Renus applied bandages to his ribs. Krolia stood beside him with the wolf, the Galran's eyes narrow with fear. Romelle was bustling around with water for everyone, not that the conscious ones seemed to want to drink.

None of the team had been left untouched by the events of the last few weeks. Some physical, some emotional, but every one of them looked lower than Matt had ever seen them.

Hunk glanced at him, then turned fully away from Coran. The confusion and worry in his eyes when he spotted Pidge was enough to make Matt feel guilty for his anger.

Hunk hurried over and gently loosened Pidge from Matt's back. As Pidge was pulled away, Matt realized that she was half-asleep. Hunk cradled her, and carried her over to a bed between Keith and the empty bed beside Allura.

Pidge of course protested, but Hunk spoke quietly to her until she settled. Then Hunk went back to Coran, and Matt heard him whisper that he needed the advisor's help. He maneuvered Coran to the empty bed between Pidge and Allura, and told him he could keep an eye on Allura from there while making sure Pidge stayed in bed. Coran reluctantly agreed, and a grinning Hunk moved on to Krolia. A short conversation later, Krolia was convinced to lay on the empty bed on the opposite side of Keith. The wolf climbed up and cuddled against her. Lastly, Hunk went to Lance and firmly guided him to a bed between Allura and Shiro, and told him to speak up if he saw Coran trying to leave bed.

Hunk had planned it from the start, Matt realized. He must have had the more urgent paladins placed the way he did from the start, knowing how he would have to get the others to bed.

"I have to say," Matt commented quietly as Hunk joined him. "You sure have a knack for that."

"For what?"

"Getting people to listen to you. I heard about those Galra generals that you made work out their differences and work together, you know."

"Oh, those two? They just spent too much time in one place. Boredom does things to you, especially a warring race," Hunk said with a shrug. "Hey, did you see Olia on your way back? She went to get some food."

"She probably got too much and had to get Eni to help carry it," Matt said with a laugh. "I'll go find her. Keep doing what you're doing, okay? And make sure you and Romelle get some rest, too."

"Ay-yi, Captain," Hunk said.

Grinning, Matt shook his head and left in search of the Caneen.

* * *

With proper medical attention, the team began to heal quite rapidly. Hunk, Lance, Krolia, and Romelle were soon cleared of concern, and Coran was allowed out of bed more often under the condition that he didn't leave the room.

With medicines that didn't mess with his… mental state, Keith was soon begging to be let out of bed. Considering that he had had the most severe injuries, he got very stern orders from pretty much everyone to not move from the bed.

Allura recovered concerningly slow, but everyone assured Matt that she had dealt with the same sort of issue before, after healing a Balmera.

Shiro slowly but steadily regained his strength. Whenever he was conscious, he was perfectly coherent, so so Matt made sure the Pidge had a very important discussion with the team. Namely, the insecurities she had felt in carrying the kill code. Shiro had been quick to assure her that she had done nothing wrong, and was actually proud that she had kept preventative measures on hand.

Pidge's confidence returned. She had spent the first few days laying listlessly in bed, but after the talk, she was out of bed and Matt was hard pressed to keep her and Lance out of trouble.

A week passed in a whirlwind of healing, talking, and planning. Then, before Matt knew it, the topic of home was raised.

* * *

"When will Keith be able to be moved?" Krolia asked.

Matt glanced up from his wrist console. Krolia was talking was Renus, and the other paladins fell silent from their activities.

"He's stable enough now," Renus said. "As long as he is not jostled too much, Keith's healing will go smoothly."

"Could we keep going on to Earth?" Lance piped up. He was seated beside Allura with the space mice -they were apparently friends now- on his shoulders.

"Yes. I suppose you could," Renus said. He eyed the others critically. "Just keep in mind that Allura and Shiro still need time until they are at their full strength."

"We'll take it slow," Allura said. "Even at our full strength, the journey could take months, since none of the lions can make a wormhole."

Everyone started to murmur agreement, then Lance visibly froze. His eyes grew as wide as saucers and his mouth dropped open. It took a moment for everyone to notice the change.

"Uh… Lance?" Hunk asked after an awkwardly silent minute passed. "Are you okay?"

"Quiznak, why didn't we think of it before?" Lance ran his hands through his hair, a disbelieving grin growing on his face. "Oh, quiznak."

"Lance," Hunk repeated.

"At least he's finally learned to use it right," Keith said.

"Quiet, Mullet," Lance said distractedly. He got up to pace, then whirled to face Pidge. "You remember when we first found Blue? Back on Earth?"

"Yeah?" Pidge said.

"And we are months away from Earth now. Even with the Castle, it would have taken weeks to get there!" Lance said.

Everyone nodded, too busy trying to follow Lance's logic to give the usual wince at mention of the Castle.

"Well, __why__ hasn't anyone asked us how long it took us to reach Altea?" Lance asked.

Coran and Allura traded glances, then Coran spoke up. "We assumed months, and you were just lucky enough to not be captured before then."

This got Pidge's attention. She spun on the spot to face Coran. "There wasn't some measure to help the Lions get back to the Castle?"

"Like what? Without an Altean at the helm, the Castle cannot do anything of the sort."

Pidge and Hunk now wore expressions similar to Lance. Shiro's eyes were widening with realization. Keith frowned at Pidge for a second, then shock registered on his face.

Keith burst out, "But we got to Arus in, like, ten minutes!"

"Did Keith take Altean medicine again?" Coran asked.

Keith scowled, but Lance responded for him. "No, he's right! We left Earth and were being chased by the Galra, then a wormhole just showed up out of nowhere in front of us! It took us straight to Arus!"

"That is… impossible," Allura said.

"I once thought aliens were impossible," Keith said, chuckling at Krolia's slightly offended face.

"And I never thought I could interact with plants the same way I do with technology," Pidge said.

"If someone had told me I would pilot a giant robotic space lion while still in my teens, I would have been calling the loony police," Lance said.

"I never thought the war would end." Hunk's statement brought a moment of silence.

"And I was literally brought back from the dead," Shiro pointed out.

"I… I suppose anything is possible." Allura looked at Romelle. "Never in a thousand deca-pheobs would I have thought other Alteans still survived."

"I don't know how Blue did it for us," Lance said pensively. He looked at Allura and smiled. "But if any of us could figure it out, it would be you."

Allura blushed. "Thank you, Lance."

"So that's how you'll get home?" Matt broke in, admittedly wishing that he had thought of all that sooner so maybe Allura would look at __him__ like that.

"That's how __we__ are going home," Pidge said.

"How soon?" Matt asked, trying to not notice Pidge's narrowing eyes.

"Well, we could leave tomorrow, or wait to see if Blue will show me how she opened the wormhole," Allura said.

"Let's go tomorrow and figure it out on the way," Lance promptly said. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to get home."

Everyone gave their agreement. Keith and Krolia gave each other sad smiles, and nodded. Shiro was drawing himself up in bed, already eager to see the Holt family again. Hunk was just bawling with joy, and Pidge was beaming and bouncing in place. The Alteans had already agreed to accompany the humans home, and were eager to see Earth for themselves.

And Matt… didn't know what to feel. To go back to Earth? Over a year ago, he had become resigned to the fact that he might never see his family again. Going back to Earth seemed even more impossible…

And why was he thinking of it as going to __Earth__ and not __home__?

* * *

The next day, preparations were finishing up. It was decided that only the paladins, Coran, Matt, Krolia, and Romelle -not to mention their assorted pets- would be headed for Earth. They would base hop for resupplying, unless Allura figured out how to create wormholes from Blue.

Matt and Eni had perfected a long-distance radio that they hoped would keep Matt in communication with Olkarion. The flight to Earth would be the test run for it.

Everything was moving so fast, Matt was having a hard time keeping up. Going to Earth? Seeing his mother for the first time in two years? The universal war was over?

Intergalatic travel was now feasible. Matt had friends in space who would willingly help him and Earth perfect their ships for proper space travel. His dream of meeting aliens had come true, and they were his friends. Some, like the paladins, could be considered family. In the last year and a half, they had become home.

In the blink of an eye, with the force of a meteorite, Matt figured it out.

* * *

"Pidge!"

Pidge turned away watching supplies being loaded into Green. Matt was rushing toward her, wearing a huge grin.

"Hey, Matt. I thought you were with Ryner," Pidge said, tapping her head.

Matt raised his hand to find the Olkari headpiece still in place, but he shrugged and left it. "I was, but we finished up fast. Hey, will there be room in Green for one of our small space pods?"

"Sure, but why do you need it? Green's not going to break down."

"Well, I kind of doubt Green will let me fly her back and forth. She's rather attached to you," Matt said with a grin.

"So you don't trust my flying?" Pidge smirked.

"Perish the thought!" Matt proclaimed dramatically. "No, I just figure I had better have a ship of my own so I can get back."

Pidge's smile wavered. "What?"

"Come back. To Olkarion. If Allura can really make wormholes, I could visit as much as I wanted!"

"Oh! Visit." Pidge laughed. "For a moment there, it sounded like you would visit __Earth__."

Matt nodded. "I did mean that."

"What?"

"I'm headed to Earth with you guys, but I think I'll be coming back out here after."

"What?" Pidge was aware of how she sounded, but what else could she say?

"Olia's already talking about doing some space travel. Maybe I can convince her to wait for me. It would be like old times. The freedom fighters can always use some extra help moving aliens around, supplies, or just regular exploring," Matt said.

"They don't need __you__!" Pidge screamed.

Everyone within earshot froze. Pidge saw the other paladins nearby, but focused her fiery gaze on Matt.

"Woah, Pidge, calm down." Matt took a step away. "It's not like I'm abandoning you. I'm going back to Earth with you first."

"It's __home__ , Matt! Say it! __Home__!"

Matt blinked, and for a moment, it looked like he was about to say it. Then, he slowly shook his head.

"It's home for you, Pidge. You and the others. But my home is with the freedom fighters. I'm sorry it took so long for me to figure it out, but it's true."

"So you __are__ abandoning me! Me, and Dad, and Mom!"

"Pidge, calm down!"

"I came out here to find you! That's all I ever wanted! To find you and Dad!" Pidge paused for a heaving breath before spitting out, "You might as well just stay here, then."

Pidge didn't wait for a response -not that Matt seemed capable of talking at the moment. She spun and ran.

* * *

"What did you say to her?"

The question made Matt jump. He turned guiltily at Shiro's voice, and found that the other paladins, Coran, and Krolia had gathered. Even Keith was there, steadied by Krolia. All the other rebels were quickly leaving the area.

"How much did you hear?" Matt asked.

"Not much, just Pidge yelling that you were abandoning her," Lance's light tone was off-set by the dark look Matt was currently receiving.

"It's not like that!" Matt said, raising his hands defensively. "I was just trying to explain to her that going back to Earth was temporary for me."

It took a split-second for everyone's expression to go to fiercely judgemental. Matt winced. Maybe he should have been a bit slower in his announcement.

"Hear me out, please! I've been away from Earth for two years now. In the last year and a half of being with the rebels, I've made some close friends here. Everyone is looking for home now, and some of them don't have a home planet, but they are making a home on a new planet. Why can't it be the same for me?"

"Because Earth wasn't brutally destroyed or overrun by Zarkon," Coran said.

"Your whole family is on Earth," Lance said.

"Pidge has spent the last year fighting to bring you home," Keith said bluntly.

"I will be going back to Earth! Just not permanently," Matt said, starting to get frustrated. "I want to explore the universe! I get that you guys want to go back to Earth, maybe get your old lives going again, but that's not what I want! I want to reach the stars, explore new worlds, and meet new alien races! It's been my dream since my dad first showed me the stars. How is that a bad thing!"

"It's not," Hunk stated firmly. Everyone looked at the yellow paladin as he went on. "Just because we were born on Earth doesn't mean that's the only place we can live. Sometimes people just want to spread their wings, and our sky just got so much bigger."

"Hunk," Lance said slowly. "You sound like you've thought about this before."

Hunk's face turned firm. "Because I am with Matt. Maybe Zarkon and Lotor are gone, but there are still a lot of alien races out there who have no idea what has just happened or where to go. I want to learn about these races, and help them form alliances with the coalition and other planets."

Even Matt was shocked. __Hunk__ felt the same as him? Lance gave a shake of his head, and summed up everyone's thoughts.

"Wow, who would have guessed that the kid who used to throw up in the flight simulator would willingly take up a life in space?"

Everyone laughed, and the tension eased. Shiro gave Matt and Hunk a fond smile.

"Home is wherever you want it to be," Shiro said. "Just don't forget everyone on Earth."

"No way. I won't be going anywhere for __years__ , anyway," Hunk said. "I'd miss you guys too much! Maybe Earth could be my home base…"

Shiro turned to Matt. "What about you?"

"I want to start as soon as I can. Once the communicators are confirmed to work, I might just head out. But I'm not abandoning anyone."

"I believe you. We all do," Shiro assured him. "It's Pidge who will have the hardest time with this."

"I'll find her now and explain it to her," Matt decided. He walked backward, still talking. "We'll be back soon! Everything is almost loaded, so we can head out then, okay?"

The others agreed and turned back to the Lions. Allura had a distant, thoughtful frown on her face. She hadn't said anything during the whole discussion, so he hoped she wasn't mad at him, too. He shook off his worries and turned to run after Pidge.

* * *

Matt shouldn't have been surprised to find Pidge at the log where she had explained everything to him.

She was sitting on the far end of the log, with her knees drawn up to her chin. She stared into the trees without responding when Matt went to stand on the opposite end of the log.

Matt waited in silence for several minutes. He opened his mouth to speak, but Pidge beat him to it.

"For the last year, all I could imagine was going home with you and Dad. Isn't that what you want?"

"I'm not trying to break up the family, Katie," Matt said, using Pidge's real name to maybe help get through to her. "But haven't you ever wanted something so bad, you can just taste it? You lie awake at night, dreaming of the day when you can finally have it? That was me, about exploring space. It's __still__ me."

"All I ever wanted, was you, Mom, and Dad," Pidge said.

She turned her head to Matt, and he saw that she was crying. Matt hurriedly went to her side.

"And you have me. You'll have the very first communicator that can work across the universe. Anytime you want to talk, you can call me. And I'll visit, Katie. It's not like you will never see me again. Allow me a moment to sound like an old Disney movie, but I'll always be in your heart."

Pidge snorted through her tears. "That's so corny."

"And true. Look, if you are worried or need to see me, you seriously have a space lion to fly after me. Green's big enough to haul me home for dinner, you know. I'll give you a tracker for me, if that's what you need."

Pidge's face twisted. "Last time I used one of those, it led me to a graveyard."

"Um…" Matt searched for another tactic. "We can connect the tracker to my vitals, so you can always keep an eye on my health. I think Mom would like that."

"That's a tall order," Pidge said, her gloomy expression lightening a bit.

"It'll be a long flight, unless we really could wormhole back to Earth."

"I just," Pidge bit her lip, "I don't want to lose you again."

"And you won't. I've got the rebels to watch my back. I'll stick to galaxies close to Earth if need be, and come back often with all my stories and maybe some friends."

"You'd better," Pidge said.

Matt took that as reluctant acceptance. But Pidge was still frowning. She wasn't protesting with Matt anymore, but he could see how much his decision hurt.

Matt put his hands into his pockets. Maybe he could give her a keepsake. Something she could hold when she was missing him, in case the communicator wasn't enough.

His fingers found the thumb drive, and he flinched away. Why hadn't he disposed of it yet? Then, an idea started to form. He rubbed the drive thoughtfully and stood.

"Isn't it funny, how something that seems so awful, can turn out to be good?"

"Like what?"

Matt walked around the plants nearby as he talk. "A fire that clears out an old forest for new, young plants. An exploding planet, that becomes food for a Weblum, which then is turned into life for new planets." He paused beside a sapling with a perfect fork halfway up. "A kill code that creates life."

Pidge gasped as Matt withdrew the thumb drive. "Matt, you should have destroyed that!"

"Just watch. Renus showed me an Olkari trick."

Matt balanced the thumb drive on the fork, then knelt to put his hands on the sapling. He bowed his head and concentrated.

He had picked up the Olkari's ability to interact with nature and technology quickly. It was only one small step further to combine the two into one, living piece of interacting tech.

Matt heard Pidge gasp after a few minutes, and he knew it was working. He opened his eyes as the sapling finished wrapping around the thumb drive. The roots drew up from the ground and the branches sunk into the trunk, forming one mass that gradually took the shape of a pyramid. With one more thought, the tiny tree mech powered up. Humming slightly, it rose up to hover over Matt's hand. One of the points flattened, and a glowing green circle appeared. Traces of green showed up on the sides.

Pidge gasped. "Rover?!"

The little mech gave a cheery beep and hovered over to Pidge.

"Hunk told me about Rover, and what happened to him," Matt explained. "This little guy is connected to my life force."

Pidge reached out and laid a hand on the mech. It gave a purring sound, making her smile.

"So, for as long as I am alive, so will the mech." Matt put a hand on Pidge's shoulder. "Keep it close to you, and I'll always be with you."

Pidge snorted and grabbed Matt in a hug. "You're such a dork."

Matt gave a playful huff of protest. "I'm speaking from the bottom of my heart, and you insult me? For __shame.__ "

"Aw, quit it." Pidge shoved away from Matt and grabbed the mech to hold in front of her face. "I'm gonna call you Rove. Short for Rover, and for my brother who will be roving the universe." Pidge turned her eyes to the sky. "It's like the Olkari say. We are all connected. What's a little bit of space between you and me?"

Matt tipped his head back to gaze at the sky as well, and that's how he saw what happened next.

A bit of the sky seemed to ripple, then a circle appeared out of nowhere. The inside was a roiling mixture of purples and black, and it rapidly grew until it formed a massive wormhole.

"Is... is that what I think it is?" Pidge asked in disbelief.

"She did it," Matt said slowly. Then he grinned. "Allura really did it!"

"Well, Matt, it looks like the eternity of space just got a whole lot smaller," Pidge said.

"That it did, little sister." Matt laid a hand across Pidge's shoulder. Rove floated up between them, chirping at the sky. "That it did."


	7. First Blades

**A/N: Synopsis: Krolia's missing, and Kolivan is just trying to stay out of trouble.**

 **Rating: K**

 **Genre: Humor**

* * *

Small paws pattered down the metal hallway. The young Galra hurried down the hall as quickly as he dared, ears pricked for sounds of adults who would send him out of the maintenance halls. His hands nervously clenched the slim braid of hair that hung over his shoulder, eyes scanning the walls in search of his mischievous friend who had vanished down the hall a few doboshes before.

The Galran outpost was a small and run-down place floating in the midst of the Marmora asteroid field. The outpost was constantly being beaten down by the asteroids around it, but the inhabitants stubbornly refused to let the base fall apart.

Still, there were abandoned sections where walls were too badly damaged and sometimes doors that led to open space. It was dangerous to wander those sections, yet here the young Galra was.

The Galra reached a fork in the hall and halted. He frowned down each hall, both appearing equally empty. Finally, after a dobosh of shifting from foot to foot, he gathered the courage to call for his friend.

"Krolia?"

The sound was barely audible, even to his own keen ears. He took a deep breath, small chest puffing out, and squeezed his eyes shut to call again, slightly louder.

"Krolia, where are you?"

"Right here, silly!"

The young Galra nearly screeched at the cheery -and much too loud- voice from right behind. He spun around to face his shorter friend.

"Krolia, this isn't the time for games!" he hissed.

"Aw, you worry too much, Kolivan," Krolia teased, blinking innocently at him.

Kolivan gave Krolia his best scowl. Maybe it was because she knew him well enough to know that he wasn't really mad or maybe it was because his ten deca-pheob old face couldn't quite form the scowl with any sort of fierceness, but Krolia didn't look impressed.

"You don't worry enough," Kolivan finally said.

Krolia rolled her eyes. "It's just a hall. It's not like we're breaking any rules."

"We're breaking your dad's," Kolivan reminded her. He instantly regretted saying that when Krolia's face fell, and tried to change the subject. "Mom is looking for you."

Krolia huffed, but Kolivan knew it was just because her brief freedom was ending. Her dad was busy working in Zarkon's fleet, and rarely got to visit. While he was gone, he had left Krolia in the care of Kolivan's mother. Kolivan was used to her strict rules, but Krolia always had a hard time listening.

"Even Antok is searching," Kolivan informed her.

Krolia perked up at the mention of Kolivan's little brother. At eight deca-pheobs old, he was the same age as Krolia. It was easy for Krolia to get him to join her wild escapades, and Kolivan so often found himself being the voice of reason if the three of them were alone.

"He's with Mom," Kolivan said.

"Fine, I only wanted you to come, anyway," Krolia said with an easy shrug.

"Oh, no. You aren't getting me in trouble again," Kolivan said, crossing his arms.

"I won't!" Krolia insisted. "I want to show you something that Papa gave me."

Kolivan looked at Krolia's empty hands. Her thin grey pants didn't have pockets, and her shirt didn't appear to be concealing anything.

"I don't have them with me. Papa said I had to keep them hidden, so I am keeping them in one of the empty rooms." Krolia's eyes gleamed in the dim light.

"Mom is looking for us," Kolivan said, not as firmly as he would have liked.

"It'll just take a few ticks!" Krolia clasped her hands together and gave Kolivan her best yupper pup eyes. She threw in the final blow. "Please?"

Kolivan groaned. He never could say no to that face, and Krolia knew it. She smirked and darted down the left hall without even waiting for Kolivan to say yes.

A small part of Kolivan wanted to just head back to his family's dorm, but curiosity and thinking of Krolia's hopeful face pushed away the thought. Stifling a sigh, Kolivan scurried after Krolia.

* * *

Krolia led Kolivan to a hall that must have been abandoned for deca-pheobs. A lot of the lights weren't working, and there was only one set of footprints blurring the dust that covered the ground.

Krolia went to a door nearly at the end of the hall and pressed her hand to the scanner. The door opened with a screech that had Kolivan yelping. He pressed his hands to his ears until the dreadful sound ended.

"Oops, shoulda warned you."

Kolivan glared at Krolia, who at least had the decency to look apologetic. She beckoned him inside the dim room.

The room was an old storage space. It was mostly empty now, with just a few buckets on the shelves on the wall. A random sentry arm was laying in the corner.

Krolia scrambled up the shelving to reach the myriad of piping in the ceiling. She swung up to sit on a wide pipe.

"Come on!" Krolia called down.

Kolivan made sure his sigh was extra loud. He climbed up the shelves and grabbed the above pipes to pull himself to sit beside Krolia.

"Okay, now what?"

Krolia stood and reached into a gap in the pipes. After a tick of shuffling around with her hands, she pulled out a grey satchel and sat down. She opened up the satchel's flap. Despite himself, Kolivan found himself leaning closer.

Krolia pulled out an identical set of daggers. The black metal almost seemed to glow in the darkness. One knife had a purple emblem that really did glow.

"Papa said they are made of luxite, a really rare metal," Krolia said in a conspiratorial whisper. "Luxite is special, almost like magic!"

"Magic?" Kolivan repeated, unimpressed.

"Papa has a knife like this, and it can turn into a big sword!" Krolia explained, throwing her arms wide for emphasis.

"Really?"

Kolivan looked at the knives with new interest. Krolia wasn't one to make up details like that, so she must have been speaking the truth about the knives turning into swords.

"Papa says I'm too young to unlock the blade myself," Krolia said, pouting a little. "But he's going to help us learn when we're older."

"Us?"

"Yep! Papa gave me two knives, and told me to give the other to someone that I really, really trust." Krolia held out the knife with no emblem to Kolivan.

"Are you sure?" Kolivan asked, reaching out but not taking the knife.

"Of course! There's no one that I trust more than you, except for Papa. Antok needs one, too, but Papa only gave me two. It'll be our little secret for now, okay?"

"Okay."

Krolia beamed as Kolivan took the blade. To Kolivan's utter shock, there was a flash of light, then the same emblem that was on Krolia's began to glow in his.

"The luxite connects to the user's life force," Krolia explained excitedly. "No one else can claim this knife as theirs!"

"Our knives are connected to us," Kolivan said, awed. He gave Krolia a rare smile. "And our knives connect us to each other."

"It could be our own special club!" Krolia crowed. "No one will ever be invited, unless they have a special blade! We'll be the Blades of… of…"

"Marmora?" Kolivan suggested.

Krolia shrugged. "We'll work on it. But, the point is, we're a team!" Her face clenched in attempted seriousness as she pressed her left fist to her opposite shoulder. "No one can break us apart. We'll be together forever and ever."

Kolivan's smile grew as he mimicked the salute. "Forever and ever."


	8. Hold Me Close

****A/N: I had this thought after watching season six. Was I the only one who wanted to see Honerva and Lotor make up?****

 ** **Synopsis: (AU to the events surrounding Lotor's death.) For ten thousand years, Haggar wanted only to open the quintessence field for Zarkon. Now, Honerva only wants to be with her son.****

 ** **Rating: K+****

 ** **Genres: Family/Angst****

* * *

 _ _Honerva gazed across at Lotor. While her expression remained neutral, each word he spat was like a knife to her heart.__

" _ _My mother ceased to exist when Honerva drew her last breath. Do not believe for a moment that I would ever accept you as kin. You are an abomination. A twisted perversion of what was once so beautiful and pure. The end is near, witch. I know you can sense it. If you beg for you life now, maybe I will take pity on you when the time comes."__

 _ _Honerva didn't speak for a moment. Was that really what he thought of her. His glare didn't falter, and if she was being honest, Honerva didn't blame him. She had abandoned him as a child, barely spoken to him as he grew, and stood silently as Zarkon disowned and exiled him.__

" _ _Take him away," Honerva finally said, the pain making her words harsh. Maybe, with time, she could bring Lotor back to her.__

 _ _She should have seen what came next. Acxa, the general always most loyal to Lotor, took his arm and spun him behind her. She lifted her gun, pointed at Honerva. She shot, but Honerva teleported to one of the high beams of the ship.__

 _ _Out of sight, Honerva watched as Acxa freed Lotor. The other two generals returned to Lotor's side with little argument. They raced out, headed for the Sincline ships to intercept the Castle of Lions.__

* * *

Honerva was at a loss. For ten thousand years, her sole intention had been to open the quintessence field for Zarkon. Once Zarkon was killed, there wasn't the same drive. She set about bringing a new Emperor for the Galra, but Lotor had succeeded in the Kral Zera. Seeking more power, she had found her way to Oriande, and encountered the white lion.

Now, she had the power she had sought, but no more the desire to rule the universe as Zarkon once had. Thoughts of power and control had fled her mind. All she wanted now was to make things right with Lotor.

She had thought that Lotor might have felt the same, but after the generals brought him to her, his rejection, and their betrayal, she could see that bringing Lotor back to her would be no easy task.

But that was alright. She had all the time in the world.

Honerva's eyes fell to the main view port of the ship she had taken to Lotor's location. The Sincline ships had combined into one massive mech that was proving a challenge for Voltron.

Honerva's eyes narrowed as the mech vanished from sight, then reappeared to strike at Voltron. The paladins didn't respond fast enough and were sent spinning, while Lotor vanished once again.

He was entering the quintessence field! Each time he went in, the mech came back fully charged. It was a brilliant technique, but very risky. Every second in the quintessence field increased the risk that Lotor would lose himself to the power.

Just as his father had.

Honerva watched as Lotor blinked in and out of existence. His actions were becoming more wild and fierce. Then, he went into the quintessence field and didn't return.

Voltron moved sluggishly in turning in search for Lotor. All of the sudden, the massive mech shot straight up. There was nothing defensive in this action, and Honerva thought they were fleeing. Then, a glow began to surround Voltron, and the old mech vanished like Lotor's mech.

"No!" Honerva couldn't help crying out.

Voltron had taken the battle to the quintessence field! With the limitless power, the two sides could battle without their mechs losing power. It would be a battle likely to the death, with only the victor emerging.

If either could hold out long enough to return.

Honerva gripped the controls of her little pod. With the knowledge she gained in Oriande, she knew how to enter the quintessence field with the ship. But the ability was basically useless since the pod -and she- wouldn't survive long without the protection of the trans-reality comet.

Honerva noticed flashes of light in space and turned her scanners to them.

The battle in the quintessence field was ripping gaps in their reality! If allowed to proceed, there would be massive holes between realities. That was the best-case scenario, the worse being that the affected realities would collapse.

Before Honerva could wonder about the battle any more, Voltron appeared. She held her breath, already knowing that Lotor wouldn't be returning if Voltron had.

Honvera stared at the space from which Voltron had appeared. Lotor couldn't be gone!

She thrust her ship out from cover. She shot past Voltron, the mech turning to follow her path, but she ignored it. She closed her eyes and focused her energies.

A surge of power shot through her frame, making her jerk back and cry out. But she opened her eyes to the blinding light of the quintessence field.

Already, the power of the quintessence was making her whole body shake. She spotted the dark shape of Lotor's mech, moving slowly and weakly.

She sped her pod closer to the mech, but the pod was quickly being overwhelmed by the amount of power. It started to shudder and alarms blared. Honerva waited until the last second, then teleported out just before it could explode.

Focusing on the head of Lotor's mech, Honerva managed to arrive inside the mech. She sighed in relief when the force of quintessence lessened, then looked around.

She was in the back half of the main Sincline ship. There was a door above her, glitching open and closed. When it zipped open, Honerva could see the back of Lotor's pilot seat.

Grabbing the door as it glitched shut, Honerva forced it halfway open and slipped up behind Lotor.

"Lotor," Honerva said.

Lotor flinched and jerked around. His eyes were wild and beyond reason, but Honerva could also see intense pain in his tense body and tight grip on the controls.

"What do you want, witch," Lotor spat.

"We have to get out of the quintessence field," Honerva said, moving alongside Lotor. "If we stay too long, we will perish."

Lotor gave a bark of laughter. "'Perish?' Why would my father seek something that would only kill him? I have access to the quintessence field. Endless power. No one will have to fight for power again."

"Zarkon was… misguided. As was I." Honerva put her hand on Lotor's cheek, but he jerked away. "I meant what I said on the ship. I did not mean to leave you."

Lotor tried to laugh again, but he broke off in a fit of coughs. Honerva watched him struggle for breath. She closed her eyes.

It was too late. Returning to his reality would kill him. And, as she knew from experience, he would only become obsessed with the quintessence field.

Honerva knelt beside the chair and rubbed Lotor's back while he got his breathing under control. He lifted his head, eyes glazed. He wiped spit from his mouth, then looked at Honerva.

"Why are you here?"

"I was worried for you."

"You? Worried for me? Since when?" Lotor said. It sounded like he intended to be harsh, but it came out weary.

Honerva brushed a strand of hair from Lotor's face. "You are my son. I cannot pretend that you should forgive me, for all I did. But I do want to try to make it up."

Lotor shuddered and closed his eyes. He opened his eyes after a moment, showing pupils more gray than blue. He was running out of time.

" _ _So am I,"__ Honerva thought, glancing at her shaky hands.

"I wanted to prove myself," Lotor said slowly, painfully. "I ruled over the planets I was ordered, but never to Zarkon's satisfaction. When I ruled differently than he wished on a defeated planet, he ordered me to destroy it. Nothing I did was ever enough."

"Nothing could have made Zarkon love you," Honerva admitted. "His mind was too far gone."

Lotor groaned, whether from the statement or pain, Honerva could only guess.

"I formed a colony… of Alteans," Lotor said, making Honerva gasp. "I never told father… he definitely wouldn't have approved. I found surviving Alteans and hid them on a planet in the quantum abyss. There… I experimented… with their quintessence. I thought I could unlock the secrets of Oriande or the quintessence field by studying their quintessence." Lotor's mouth twisted. "So many died."

"I… I am sure you did what you thought was best," Honerva said, reigning in her own surprise.

"Yes. But to what end?" Lotor coughed, but doggedly went on. "Despite all that died, I never found what I sought until Allura located your compass stone. All my years of research… nothing!"

"I have s-seen your work. It is… great indeed, surpassing m-my own," Honerva praised. She was having a hard time catching her breath.

"But never enough," Lotor said with a tired sigh. "All I wanted… was… was…"

Lotor bent abruptly forward as his body was wracked once again with coughs. Honerva resumed rubbing his back.

Wanted what? Lotor tried to continue, but every attempt came out as a ragged cough. Honerva looked at Lotor. What did every child want?

Honerva wrapped her arms around Lotor's shaking frame and whispered, "I am proud of you, my son."

Lotor groaned and leaned into the embrace. His body still shook with coughs, but he was somehow calmer.

The answer was so simple. Lotor had grown up completely deprived of a parent's approval. All he wanted was to get the approval of his parents. To hear love in their voice when they called him "son."

"My son," Honerva murmured, loving the sound of those words. "I love you."

"I missed you," Lotor rasped.

"And I you."

"What now? Go… back?"

Honerva lifted her eyes at a cracking sound. The mech was finally falling apart, letting in shafts of light. At this stage, full exposure would kill them both. Going back would have same result. Either way, they died.

"Let's just stay here for now," Honerva said softly. "Together."

"Yes. Together," Lotor murmured.

"Everything will be fine. Just hold onto me," Honerva whispered.

Arms wrapped around her waist as the main port split. The light was blinding to Honerva. She moved a hand over Lotor's eyes, as if she could shield him from what was about to come.

"I love you," Honerva whispered.

Lotor's words were nearly lost in the cracking of the mech. "I love you, too… Mother."

Tears flooded Honerva's eyes. She tucked Lotor's face into her shoulder, and lifted her head as the cockpit broke in half.

The arms around her waist tightened. She held her son closer, eyes wide as the light surrounded them. Filled them.

And everything turned white.

* * *

 ** **A/N: And, yes, I have been informed by Gravtron1 how evil I am. XD****


	9. Only Mostly Dead

****/N: Everyone is aged up at least slightly in this, except for Shiro. I had way too much fun with this one. I don't have Princess Bride on hand to watch, so sorry if some of the scenes are extra wonky.****

 ** **None of my usual ships apply in this story. Keith is trying to avenge his mother, so Krolia is dead. Um... yeah.****

 ** **Notes: A Voltron/Princess Bride crossover****

 ** **Synopsis: Keith and Hunk need Shiro's help to get into Prince Lotor's castle so Keith can avenge his mother. But first, they'll need a miracle, because Shiro is kind of dead just then. Luckily, there might be someone who can help them.****

 ** **Rating: K+****

 ** **Genres: Humor/Parody****

* * *

Hunk and Keith tramped through the dreary woods. Keith was panting from the long trek. Hunk was still going strong, even though he had a grown man slung over one shoulder.

Keith glanced at the man, who had recently learned to be named Shiro. Originally known as the Dread Pirate Roberts, Keith knew that Shiro was his only chance at getting into the prince's castle to find the six-fingered man who had killed his mother.

Unfortunately, Shiro was kind of dead at that moment.

Keith gripped the sword at his side with his free hand -the other hand holding the metal arm that somehow connected to the mass of metal that had replaced Shiro's right shoulder. After twenty years, he finally had a means to avenge his father's death. It would take a miracle to get Shiro's help, though.

Luckily, Keith knew just where to find one.

The group eventually arrived at a decrepit hut. Keith went right up to the door and pounded on it.

"Go away!" yelled a grumpy voice from inside. A slot on the door opened to reveal an equally grumpy old man with sharp blue eyes and wispy, dark brown hair. "What, what?"

"Are you Miracle Lance, who worked for the king all these years?" Keith asked.

"I was, until his brat son fired me," Miracle Lance snapped. "Thank you for bringing up that painful subject. While you're at it, why don't you give me a nice paper cut and pour lemon juice on it? We're closed!"

The slot slapped closed. Keith knocked again, prompting the slot to open again.

"Beat it, or I'll call the brute squad," Miracle Lance griped.

"I'm on the brute squad," Hunk offered.

Miracle Lance looked Hunk up and down. "You __are__ the brute squad."

"We need a miracle," Keith cut it.

"Look, I'm retired! Besides, why would you want someone that the king's bratty son fired? I'd probably kill whoever you wanted me to miracle!"

"He's already dead," Hunk said.

"He is?" Miracle Lance squinted at Shiro over Hunk's shoulder. "Fine, bring him in. I'll have a look."

The door was opened. Hunk carried Shiro in and laid the limp man on the table. Keith followed and put the metal arm beside him.

Miracle Lance walked around Shiro, clicking his tongue. He picked up the metal arm and let it fall back to the table.

"Sir?" Keith tried.

"I've seen worse," Miracle Lance decided.

Keith waited for Miracle Lance to do his miracle, but he only went on examining Shiro. Finally, he tried again.

"Sir!"

Miracle Lance glanced up. "Eh?"

"We are in a rush."

"Don't you rush me, sonny." Miracle Lance flapped his hands in Keith's face, making him back away. "You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles." He glanced at Shiro. "Can't do much worse here, I suppose. You got money?"

"I have sixty-five."

Miracle Lance threw his hands in the arm. "Holy crow, I've never worked for so little! Well, I did once, but that was for a very noble cause."

"This is a noble cause. His wife is…," Keith's mind raced for an excuse, "...crippled. His children are on the brink of starvation."

"You are a rotten liar!" Miracle Lance snorted.

Keith leaned close. "I need him to avenge my mother, murdered twenty years ago."

Miracle Lance wasn't impressed. "Your first story was better." He turned and began digging through a pile of junk nearby. "Now, where's those bellows crammed? He probably owes you money, huh? Well, I'll ask him."

"He is dead," Keith said, confused.

"Ho ho, look who knows so much." Miracle Lance turned around, now holding large bellows. "Well, it just so happens here that your friend is only mostly dead. There is a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Here, open his mouth."

Hunk leaned over and pried Shiro's mouth open, and Miracle Lance stuck in the tip of the bellows, still talking.

"Now, mostly dead is still slightly alive. Now, with all dead… well, there's only one thing you can do for all dead."

"What?" Keith asked.

Miracle Lance grinned. "Go through his clothes and look for loose change."

Miracle Lance pumped the bellows once, filling Shiro's lungs with air, then put away the bellows. He leaned down and yelled in Shiro's ear.

"Hey, hello in there! Hey! What's so important? What you got here that is worth living for?"

Keith and Hunk glanced at each other, sure the miracle man had gone off the deep end. But then, Miracle Lance pressed on Shiro's chest to force the air back out. With the air, came two words that sounded like, "oo ove."

"'True love,' you heard that," Keith said, smiling. "You could not ask for a more noble cause."

"Yeah, true love is the greatest thing in the world, except for some nice garlic knots. When the dough is toasted just right and the garlic is fresh." Miracle Lance sighed. "They're so perky. I love that. But, that is not what he said. No, he distinctly said, 'to blave.' And, as we all know, 'to blave' means to 'to bluff,' eh? You were probably playing cards and he cheated-"

"Liar!"

Miracle Lance was cut off by an angry yell from another room. A withered old woman stomped into the room, brown eyes fiery and light brown hair frizzed up like it was showing her anger.

"Liar!" the woman screamed, thrusting a finger in Miracle Lance's face. "Liar!"

Miracle Lance rapidly backed away, despite the woman being a head shorter than him. "Get back, witch!"

"I'm not a witch, I'm your wife!" The old woman huffed. "Though after what you said, I'm not sure I even want to be that anymore!"

"You never had it so good!" Miracle Lance said with a nervous smile.

"True love, he said. True love, Lance!"

"Not another word, Pidge," Miracle Lance muttered.

Pidge glanced past him to Keith and Hunk. "He's afraid. Ever since Prince Lotor fired him, his confidence has been shattered."

Miracle Lance groaned. "Why did you have to say that name? You promised to never say that name!"

"What, Lotor?" Pidge said innocently.

Miracle Lance threw his hands in the air. "Agh!"

He tried to walk away, but Pidge followed right behind him.

"Lotor, Lotor," Pidge said, following him around a pole. "Lotor," as they rounded a table. "Lot-or!" Pidge sang as she ducked under a hanging plant.

Miracle Lance shoved his fingers in his ears. "I'm not listening!"

"Your life is expiring, and you don't even have the decency to say that you won't help that man," Pidge accused.

Miracle Lance, who was apparently listening after all, said, "Nobody's hearing nothing."

Keith sighed. They didn't have time for this. But Miracle Lance's reaction to Lotor's name had given him an idea.

"This is Allura's true love," Keith said, gesturing to Shiro. "If you heal him, he can stop Lotor's wedding."

"Enough!" Miracle Lance paused and removed his fingers. "Wait, what? I heal him, and Lotor suffers?"

Keith grinned. "Humiliation galore."

Miracle Lance laughed and clapped his hands. "Oh, boy, I'm going to lick the dalmation! That is a noble cause! Give me the sixty-five, I'm on the job."

Pidge cheered.

* * *

Some time later, Miracle Lance and Pidge were hunched over a small brown ball. Pidge was delicately brushing a brown substance over it.

"That a miracle pill?" Keith asked.

"The chocolate coating makes it go down easier," Pidge said. "But you'll have to wait fifteen minutes for maximum potency. And he shouldn't go swimming after for at least-"

"An hour," Miracle Lance supplied.

"Yes, an hour."

"A good hour."

Miracle Lance dropped the pill into a small drawstring bag and handed it to Keith. Hunk picked Shiro back up and headed outside.

"Thank you for everything," Keith said, shaking the couple's hands before hurrying outside.

"Okay, bye," Miracle Lance said.

"Have fun storming the castle!" Pidge called.

Pidge sighed with a smile as the trio vanished into the trees. "Think it'll work?"

"It will take a miracle," Miracle Lance said.

The couple cheerfully raised their hands and called a final, "Bye-bye!"


	10. The Lions Fell

****A/N: This is what I (and probably you) was sure was going to happen when they gave us the white-out.****

 ** **Synopsis: (Season seven spoilers; what-if AU) The lions fell. Comms were down. Four ships and one rover raced to the fallen lions. Their pilots feared the worst... and got it.****

 ** **Rating: T****

 ** **Genre: Angst****

* * *

" _ _Paladins! Come in, paladins!"__

 _ _They weren't responding.__

" _ _Communications are down. I'm using manual override to open the hanger doors for the MFE pilots to intercept."__

 _ _The lions plummeted toward earth. They showed no signs of slowing.__

" _ _Pilots, stand by," the words came out firm, though Shiro feels as though he was falling apart from inside. "You're going to have some extra passengers."__

" _ _I'm going for Lance."__

 _ _Veronica was out the door before Shiro could protest. As if he even could. His hands clenched in sheer helplessness as Sam hacked the doors.__

" _ _Hanger doors open."__

" _ _Stand by. We're bringing the paladins home."__

 _ _Four MFE ships and one rover raced out of the de-transformed Atlas. In minutes that felt like eternity, the lions were reached. They sprawled across the sands, rubble, or water, wherever their landing site happened to be. They gave no resistance or response as family, friends, and MFE pilots scrambled inside.__

 _ _Shiro nearly fell as he entered Black. His wounds from battle dragged him down, but he pushed on. Pushed away Griffin's restraining arm, and rushed into the cockpit.__

 _ _Keith looked so peaceful, eyes closed and head cocked back, he might have been asleep. An expression of calm unlike any Shiro had ever seen filled his face.__

 _ _Shiro was afraid to move him, wake him from his peace, but he needed to be checked by a doctor. He put a hand on his shoulder and shook him gently.__

 _ _Nothing.__

 _ _Shiro tugged off Keith's shattered helmet, fingers going to his neck for a pulse. As his fingers met flesh, Shiro's entire world collapsed.__

 _ _His skin was cold. He had no pulse.__

" _ _Lance? Lance!"__

" _ _Katie, look at me!"__

" _ _Allura?"__

 _ _Shiro heard the words through a fog, until Kinkade's solemn voice broke through.__

" _ _They are gone."__

 _ _Shiro's knees gave out. He fell to the ground with a wordless cry, everything going black in seconds.__

 _ _The paladins were dead.__


	11. The Quest For Freedom

**A/N: Just a brief explanation for the things I won't go into detail in this story. Since this is set as an episode before season finale, Lotor has been with the team for some time. They're mostly friends now (As I hope will happen in the upcoming series). If you aren't familiar with my VLD fanfics, Pidge monitors all of the paladins' vitals in Green. Lotor's generals are not present or mentioned, as I wasn't sure where to put them. The "Kuron" thing ended up being a brain-washed Shiro, or something, I don't know, and isn't even hinted at. Because he is half Altean, Lotor can also fly the Castle and create wormholes.**

 **Synopsis: (Major character death, no blood.) As the coalition rallies behind the paladins, they set in motion a risky plan to take out Zarkon's army. Win or lose, this will be the fight that ends the war. And for one paladin -whose strength and stability the team could never have pictured themselves without- it will truly be the final battle.**

 **Rating: T**

 **Genres: Tragedy/Friendship**

* * *

"Are you sure the cloaking will stay?"

Pidge sighed in exasperation. "Yes, Hunk. I keep telling you, it's the same device I put in Green."

"Who is also half Yellow's size," Hunk responded.

"Come on, man. Don't you trust Pidge?" Lance ribbed from where he leaned against Yellow's paw.

"Easy for you to say. You'll be staying back and safe, while Keith and I go smack into the middle of Zarkon's ship!" Hunk exclaimed.

"We'll be fine," Keith said. "The plan is simple and quick. By the end of the day, Zarkon will be defeated."

The five original paladins fell into silence. How long had it been since they first stumbled onto Blue in the cave back on Earth? Time was strange in space, but Hunk had calculated it to have been around two years. Finally, after two years, they would be ending this fight.

Matt came into Yellow's hanger, carrying a large metal object. He broke the silence with a cheery greeting. Behind him came Allura, Kolivan, and Lotor.

Hunk greeted them all, even Lotor. It had been probably a year since he had first joined the resistance, and everyone's attitude toward him had come a long way.

Lotor had been key to exposing Galra bases, leading them to supply routes, and pointing out strategic locations that weakened Zarkon's ranks. He had even risked his own life on multiple missions to save the paladins or allies.

Granted, there was the nagging knowledge that once Zarkon was gone, Lotor would probably try to take his place. Everyone just hoped that Lotor was enough on their side to keep himself in check when the time came. Until then, even Allura was surprisingly civil to Zarkon's son.

"How's the cloaking going on Yellow?" Matt asked, setting the cylinder he carried on the ground.

"Almost done," Pidge said.

"Good. The Castle is nearly to Zarkon's ship," Allura said.

"The rebels are already in place, and awaiting instruction," Matt reported.

"And the Blade of Marmora are with them, as well," Kolivan said.

"I can't believe we're doing this," Lance said with an incredulous laugh.  
"'We?' More like Hunk and I," Keith said with a smirk. "Hunk was right when he said you were just waiting back here."

Lance glared. "Just don't mess it up. I don't want to clean up after you again."

Everyone let the pair rant at each other. It was nice to have Keith back in the Castle; he was so often gone helping the Blades.

Pidge slammed down the hatch she had been working in and dusted off her hands. "Done!"

Matt grinned proudly as he put a hand on his sister's shoulder. "Great job, Pidge. Too bad Dad isn't here to see this."

Pidge shrugged. "He saw Green in action when we broke him from that prison. After all this is done, he and the other recovering prisoners on Arus will have all the time in the world to hear about what happened."

Coran walked in, his expression unusually stoic. "We're in position."

Everyone looked at him, still for a moment. The reality of their plan and the thought of ending Zarkon's reign was still a bit unbelievable to them.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Lotor asked. "For Zarkon to come down here personally and give you his resignation?"

Everyone cast withering looks at Lotor.

Allura sighed, then said, "Kolivan, you meet up with the Blades and rebels. Coran and Lotor, back to the bridge. Keith, into Yellow, Matt is with Pidge, and everyone else to their lions. It will be radio silence with Hunk and Keith until they are clear."

Hunk hefted up the cylinder Matt had brought in, and hauled it into Yellow. It was a nano-thermite titanium-boron bomb and it, along with Hunk and Keith's ability to stealthily cross Galra-infested space, was key to the whole plan.

Hunk sat in the pilot seat and glanced at Keith standing behind him. "You ready?"

"To end Zarkon's reign once and for all?" Keith smiled grimly. "I've been ready since we first found Blue."

Hunk shared Keith's smile as Yellow stood and gave a mighty roar.

* * *

With Pidge's cloaking technology, it was a simple matter to pass by the Galra fighters hovering in space.

Yellow was maneuvering slowly through the still fighters waiting for the battle to begin. Hunk swallowed as he took in the view.

Zarkon's forces had gathered around Zarkon's ship. Outside the Galra forces, the Voltron coalition had them surrounded. It was hard to say who had the most fighters, especially since everyone knew Zarkon's knack for hiding fighters either in his ship or a short distance away, allowing them to rush in if the tides turned against Zarkon. Aside from the occasional skirmish on the outer edges, either side waited for the other to make the first big move.

"Think the stalemate will hold until we are done?" Hunk asked.

"I sure hope so. If the battle begins before we get out, it will take much longer for us to meet up with the other lions to form Voltron," Keith answered.

Hunk glanced at his friend. Did Keith miss being a Voltron paladin? He never said either way, but Hunk thought Keith was more content with the Blade of Marmora. The paladins missed him, but he had finally found his place in this war.

Yellow finally reached Zarkon's ship and hovered in front of an airlock. She opened her mouth, allowing her two passengers exit -Keith carried the bomb- before flying down below the ship to take cover before her cloaking wore out.

Hunk eased himself over to the airlock. Since there wasn't any scanners that Keith could use to open the door, he pried off the access panel, then starting messing with the wires inside.

"Remind me again why we can't just cut our way in like always," Keith said, tersely watching the fighters for any sign that he and Hunk had been spotted.

"If we want the bomb to blow up the engine room, it has to remain undisturbed during the time we are getting back out so we can detonate it from a safe distance. If the Galra have the slightest hint of intruders, they will put the ship on lockdown and search it. We need to get in and out, without them spotting us. I'll scramble the controls for a moment, so we can get in. If anyone is sent to investigate, we will already be gone and they will just think the door was malfunctioning." Hunk paused. "You know, hopefully."

"You don't really fill me with confidence when you have to add that at the end," Keith sighed.

"Hey, you want a confident plan lay-out, go to Lance," Hunk said.

"More like enthusiastic," Keith said, remembering how exaggerated Lance could get when it came to explanations.

Hunk waved a hand dismissively. "Okay, Shiro, then. Ah, there we go."

The door slid open, allowing Hunk and Keith to float inside before closing again behind them. Keith put his hand to a scanner on the wall, then they waited anxiously as the small room pressurized and the door into the ship opened.

Keith peeked out in both directions. "We're clear."

Hunk grabbed Keith's arm before he could leave. "Whatever happens, don't do anything stupid."

"Huh?" Hunk couldn't make out Keith's expression behind the Blade of Marmora mask, but he could easily imagine his annoyed scowl.

"Every time we fight Zarkon, you take too many risks." Hunk frowned. "You've even almost sacrificed yourself back on Naxzela."

"I'll do what I need to."

Hunk tightened his grip. "I'm serious. You're coming out of here with me."

"Whatever you say," Keith said, pulling free.

Hunk wanted to say more, but only took the bomb, allowing Keith to scout ahead and check for patrols. The pair walked in silence, except for the dull clank of their feet that there simply was no silencing.

 _"Forget stealth lions,"_ Hunk thought. _"We need stealth boots."_

Keith poked his head around a corner, then hurriedly backed up. He shoved Hunk backwards, and around corner.

They waiting breathlessly as the sound of metallic feet reached the first corner… then passed by without turning.

Keith held up an open hand, then closed his fingers one by one. When his pinkie folded last, the pair hurried back down the hall, turning into another hall seconds before a second patrol entered the hall behind them.

They moved quicker after that. Between Lotor's knowledge of the patrols and Shiro's memorization of the sentries' timing, they had managed to piece together when patrols would be crossing where. Now that Hunk had a starting point, he was able to figure the safest routes to take to the engine room.

Everything went fine for the first half. Then, as Keith turned a corner, he grunted. His Marmoran blade awakened, and he slashed at something Hunk couldn't see. He crouched, then turned to Hunk, holding a robotic sentry arm and Galra gun.

"There was a single sentry," Keith said hurriedly.

"Do you think it had time to send out an alarm?"

Hunk's question was answered a moment later as red lights flashed and a loud alarm began to sound.

Keith growled. "I'll distract them. The Blades are usually alone, so if you're quick, they shouldn't suspect anything."

"But-"

"No time to argue! Just plant the bomb, and pick me up outside." Keith shoved the gun and hand into Hunk's, then pushed him back the way they had come. He ran in the opposite direction, shouting, "Come on, Galra!"

Shaking his head but knowing it was their only shot, Hunk did as Keith had said.

* * *

Hunk was forced to evade a few more patrols, but reached the engine room without incident. Glancing around, Hunk placed the bomb on the ground. He summoned his bayard cannon, then placed the sentry hand against the scanner. As soon as the door was open enough, Hunk rushed inside, cannon at the ready.

"No one here," Hunk said, relaxing.

This had really been the trickiest part of the plan, as there was no telling when the engine room might be occupied. The lack of Galra would make the plan go much smoother.

In the previous attempt to take out Zarkon, they had merely turned off the Galra's power, so to speak. Destroying the engine room wouldn't have been enough, since there was always back-up engines and controls. It hadn't been until Lotor had come along, that they had realized one major weakness of Zarkon's ship.

The engine room was located quite close to where the quintessence was stored. While breaking into the quintessence room would be next to impossible, a large enough explosion in the engine room would set of a chain that would take out the quintessence room. The release of so much quintessence at once would be enough to disable Zarkon's ship, shutting down a majority of his fighters at the same time.

Once Zarkon's ship had been taken out, Voltron would launch its attack. Backed this time by allies, the paladins could focus on taking out Zarkon himself.

Hunk hauled in the bomb and placed it beside the console. All that was left to ensure the remote detonator was synced, then clear out before Galra found the bomb and moved it. Once safely away, they would set off the bomb, signalling the coalition to begin their attack.

Hunk took out the detonator and checked the screen. He frowned. It was showing no signal. He tapped the back, but it refused to connect with anything.

"With all this tech in here," Hunk murmured, "You would think… Oh, quiznak."

* * *

Keith had led the sentries on a wild chase through the ship. Once he had determined to be far enough away from Hunk, he turned his direction toward the ship hangers.

Fear for the integrity of the mission made Keith's feet swift, and he darted into first unoccupied hanger he came across. He quickly closed the door behind him, slicing at the control panel to buy some time. He scrambled into a pod and fired it up.

Keith activated his intercom, then said carefully, "Bad news, I was spotted. I'm making my way out now."

"What about-" Lance started to ask, but Keith cut him off.

"Don't send anyone, it was just me, and I'm getting out fine."

Everyone understood and remained silent about Hunk. This close to the end, they couldn't risk their messages being intercepted by the Galra.

Keith pulled the ship into the air. He blasted open the hanger doors and flew out as the sentries kicked in the door, only to get sucked into space behind Keith.

"Do you need one of us to get you?" Shiro asked.

"No," Keith responded, turning the ship back off.

Anyone trying to reach him would only risk the mission. If he simply waited for Hunk, Yellow could pick him up. Until then, Keith let his ship drift with the other ships that had been sucked out.

His hopes were dashed a moment later, by Hunk's frantic voice over the intercom.

* * *

"Can anyone hear me?!" Hunk yelled.

There was a moment of heart-stopping silence, then Allura's cool voice.

"Hunk, why are you breaking radio silence?"

Hunk sighed in relief. "There's some sort of electronic interference messing with the detonator. I was afraid it would be the same with radio waves."

Pidge groaned. "The detonator won't work?"

"No. It won't connect to anything."

"Finding the cause and disabling it will take too long," Pidge said. "Just set the timer and clear out as fast as you can."

"Keith's already outside," Shiro said before Hunk could even ask. "I think he is waiting for you to pick him up."

"Got it. Well, here goes nothing," Hunk said.

Setting the timer for twenty minutes -it felt like too long, but Hunk knew he would cutting his escape short as it was- Hunk hurried back to the door. He put the hand to the scanner, but nothing happened. Thinking maybe the scanner wasn't needed, he pushed against the door with the same result.

"Uh, guys, the door won't open."

"Did you try kicking it?"

Hunk could practically hear Allura's eye roll as she answered. "Lance, kicking technology doesn't make it work."

"Does on Earth," Lance responded.

"Lance, not the time," Shiro said. "Hunk, are you sure it won't open?"

"Yeah, it won't even scan," Hunk said nervously. "Do you think they spotted me?"

"Zarkon must have known that we would try something to weaken his numbers," Allura said.

"Change in plans, then," Shiro said. "Paladins, we'll have to break Hunk out ourselves."

"But what about the bomb?" Hunk asked. "By the time we are clear, won't the Galra have moved it?"

"Uh, speaking of the bomb," Pidge spoke up. "Did you turn the detonator off?"

Hunk yelped and rushed to stop the timer.

"It's our only chance," Shiro said, answering Hunk's question. "Until we get there, just hold on."

"Oh-Okay," Hunk murmured.

"You okay?" Lance asked. "We're on a private line, so be honest with me."

"I just ruined the plan," Hunk said with a groan, sinking down beside the bomb.

"Ah, we all knew it was a long shot," Lance said reassuringly. "We have enough on our side this time, we'll be good."

Pidge's voice broke into the conversation. "Oh, no. The Galra are advancing to start their attack!"

"They were waiting for us to strike first!" Allura said. "They had this planned all along."

Shiro groaned. "Great. Hunk, hang in there. They shouldn't see you as a threat, as long as you're in the engine room. They must know we can't detonate the bomb because of interference, so maybe they will leave you be."

"Until they decide to use him as leverage," Lotor said casually.

Hunk snorted. "Gee, thanks for making me feel better."

"It's the Galra way," Keith said.

"What, you'll agree with Lotor, but not me?" Lance exclaimed.

"Focus," Shiro cut in. "Hunk, you'll be fine. We'll get to you as soon as we can. In the meantime, just protect the bomb in case the Galra decide they want to get rid of it before we can get there."

Everyone signed off after reassuring Hunk that they were on their way. As the coms fell silent, except for the occasional distant explosion or terse interaction between paladins, Hunk stood.

"Protect the bomb, right," Hunk said out loud, having turned off his end of communications. "I think it does a very good job at protecting itself, thank you very much."

After several minutes of battle, Lance said, "Pidge, can you cloak Green and get Hunk out of there?"

"Can't, it's too tight," Pidge gritted out. "Even with the cloaking, we couldn't get three feet without hitting something."

"Ugh, we need Yellow to bust a path," Lance said.

"But Yellow isn't here, Lance," Allura said. "Talk less, fight more. We have to get to Hunk."

"We aren't in the clear for long enough," Pidge said. "Hunk, are you still doing okay in there?"

"Yep. Me and the bomb are nice and cozy in here," Hunk tried to joke.

"Lance, maybe if you cover me, I can-" Pidge started, only to have a voice cut her off.

"Matt!"

"Olia, what is it?" Matt asked.

"More cruisers are approaching from this direction. They have some massive ion cannons, bigger than any I have ever seen."

"It's the same here," Kolivan reported. Hunk knew he had been across from Olia's position. "More fighters as well."

"Can you hold them off?" Matt asked urgently. "We need more time."

"We can try, but we're losing ships fast. They are catching our ships in tractor beams, then disabling them," Olia answered. "There's a lot of us floating around out here with no power or weapons."

"Disabling the ships?" Pidge said. "I thought the Galra liked blowing them up?"

"They mean to take us alive," came the despondent voice of Rolo. "Take us to their prison camps, or make examples of us in the ring."

"Way to think positive," Lance returned.

"We need to get that engine room taken out," Shiro said.

"The coalition's splitting," Allura said. "Our forces are being spread thin, and we're stuck in the middle!"

"Where did he get all those ships?!" Lance yelled.

All conversation cut off, and the com was full of shouting and warnings. Hunk could hear the explosions over the coms and even through however many layers of the ship between him and the outside.

"We need Voltron!" Hunk heard Allura yell, probably having forgotten that Hunk was listening.

Hunk's fists clenched at his helpless situation. He kicked the nearest available object, almost giving himself a heart attack, as that particular object also happened to be the bomb.

Hunk scowled at the bomb. The coalition needed this bomb to take out enough Galra forces to make the fight winnable. By the time the others could reach him and get him out, it would be… it would be too late.

"What can I do?" Hunk said to himself. "I'm useless in here, and whoever has to come get me will be taking a huge risk. They need Voltron out there…"

Yellow purred in his mind, calming him.

"You're right, girl. I need to just slow down and think. Get myself out of here, maybe?"

Hunk tried to hack into the door, but the wall panels were too tight to pry out. The console had a lock that even if Pidge and Matt teamed up, it would take forever to open. As a last-ditch effort, Hunk even tried blasting down the door with his cannon, but it was made too strong for his attacks to even leave a dent.

Hunk knelt with his head against the door. Hearing the cries of his teammates as their numbers deteriorated was almost a physical pain to him. The rebels were shouting for Voltron, Shiro was scrambling for a way to get some of the lions to other parts of the fight, Kolivan was saying in that ridiculously cold voice that the Blade of Marmora were being beaten back.

They couldn't keep this up.

"You all need to leave," Hunk said, briefly silencing the chatter.

Predictably, Lance was the first to protest. "No way, man! It's all of us together, or not at all."

"Hunk, we won't leave you here," Shiro said calmly.

"We aren't leaving without our yellow paladin," Allura added. "Just hang on there."

Hunk turned off his end of the coms. "I'm tired on hanging on. They need a yellow paladin, that's what they will get."

* * *

Keith watched the battle with gritted teeth. In his weaponless pod, he didn't dare try to do anything but wait and hope no errant shots connected with his little ship.

He jumped as the ship jolted. He turned his head up and saw that Yellow had grabbed the ship in her jaws.

"Hunk!" Keith cried, opening the cockpit.

How had he gotten out? From the conversation he had heard, Keith had assumed that Hunk was well and truly stuck.

Yellow opened her mouth, allowing Keith in. Keith ran up to the cockpit, then froze.

Hunk was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

Pidge had her hands full with taking out Galra ships. For every ship Green blasted, two more took its place. From behind, she could hear Matt's terse chatter with his team.

"How are they holding up?" Pidge spared a moment to ask.

"It's not good," said her brother. "Olia's team is almost gone. Lt. Ozar hasn't been responding to my calls."

Suddenly, Green stopped moving. Pidge jerked on the controls, but they seemed frozen. She looked around, fearful they had been caught in a tractor beam, but there was none to be seen.

Then, Green jumped into action. She shot straight up, blowing past the Galra fighters into a clear bit of space. There, Pidge was shocked to see Yellow waiting.

"Everyone? Yellow is-"

Before Pidge could finish, Green's head jerked to the side, throwing the siblings from their seats.

"What the-" Matt exclaimed, before Green tipped her head up, causing him and Pidge to roll down to the lower part of her jaw.

Green rumbled, and Pidge quickly said, "She's about to open up!"

The pair barely had time to close their helmets before Green opened her mouth and shook her head, tossing Pidge and Matt into space. They flailed helplessly between the two lions, luckily unnoticed by the Galra. For now.

Pidge yelled. "Guys, Green just spat us out!"

"What?!" Allura exclaimed.

Pidge caught sight of Blue turn nearby, then Green leaned forward. Her mouth opened up, then scooped in Pidge, closing her off from space and her brother. She scrambled to the cockpit port, eyes quickly finding Matt floating in space between the two lions.

"Matt!"

* * *

Matt panted hard at the sensation of free-floating in space. He writhed his body around to see Green, but she was floating farther away. Something rumbled behind him, and Matt turned.

A giant yellow head tipped down in front of him. Yellow nudged him with her nose, and Matt could have sworn he heard purring in his head. But that didn't make sense, Pidge said only the paladins had that sensation.

Then Yellow's mouth opened, and she grabbed Matt.

Matt sat on Yellow's metallic sort-of tongue, confused about the change of events. He heard feet behind him, and turned to see a very confused Keith.

"Matt, what are you doing here?"

Matt stood. "What are you doing here? I thought Hunk was still stuck, and you were staying put."

Keith stiffened. "Hunk's not out there?"

"Uh, no."

Keith groaned. "I think Yellow's been blocking my transmissions, because I hadn't heard anything since she picked me up."

"What are you two talking about?!" Pidge's voice came over the coms.

"Hunk's still missing. Yellow picked up Keith and I," Matt responded. "I don't…"

"Matt?"

"Hang on…" Matt felt a strange force tugging him toward the cockpit. He obeyed, and found himself in front of the pilot seat. "I… I think she wants me to fly her."

"What?!"

"Pidge, what's going on?" Shiro asked, finally noticing what was going on.

"Shiro, Lance, Allura," Pidge said. "Yellow's back, but Hunk's still missing. Matt thinks she wants him to fly her."

The other paladins exclaimed similarly, until they were silenced by a familiar voice.

"Just fly her, already!" Hunk ordered. "You all need the yellow lion, right? Well, now you got her. Quit wasting time."

"But you're-" Lance started to protest.

"No one said this was permanent," Hunk said. "Just get this fight evened out, then we can sort out paladins later. So, just sit down, Matt!"

Numb, Matt obeyed. A strong, soothing presence filled his mind, urging him to take the controls. He did so hesitantly, feeling the mighty lion twitch in response to the touch. Again, the purring sound.

"Okay… but just until we get you out," Matt agreed.

"Fine by me. Keith, you back Matt up in case he needs some help piloting."

"Got it."

"Okay, you guys," Hunk said. "Form Voltron!"

* * *

Hunk leaned against the wall, listening to the team's joyous cries as Voltron was successfully formed. Allura and Matt exclaimed to each other about being the legs -it was tradition now- then the team fell into battle.

He glanced at the bomb beside him.

Despite the addition of Voltron, he knew that the coalition needed the bomb to go off. Panicked reports of ships being overtaken were still pouring in. In minutes, the paladins were realizing that not even Voltron was enough.

"We can't do this," Shiro finally said, cutting off all talking. "We have managed to move some of the disabled ships to safety, but we are so low on working ships at this point for any hope of winning."

"If we could get the bomb to blow," Hunk suggested.

"Maybe, but as soon as we get you out, the Galra will be getting the bomb out as well. Team, we're picking up Hunk, and everyone's getting out of here," Shiro said.

"The disabled ships are ruined, and we're losing morale. The coalition may never recover enough for another stand," Matt said lowly.

"I will pull out the remaining Blades of Marmora if I can," Kolivan said. "But a majority of us are trapped."

"We'll get you next," Allura said.

"No, get your friend and get out. The risk only increases the longer you stay."

"No way, we're getting you," Keith said.

"The rebels have a saying. 'The quest for freedom, is won through sacrifice.' Paladins, I ask that you not let our sacrifice be in vain," Kolivan said.

 _Sacrifice._

Hunk looked at the bomb beside him. Slowly, he stood and put a hand on the bomb. A warning growl echoed through his mind, and he jerked his hand away.

"Doesn't matter what you say, Kolivan, we're getting you, if I have to go myself," Keith argued.

"You never did follow my orders," Kolivan said softly.

"Yeah, not really his strong point," Lance said.

"We'll do what we can," Shiro cut in. "Everyone needs to clear out as soon as they can."

"Come on, everyone," Hunk tried. "We can still win this!"

"We cannot," Lotor broke in coldly. "Our numbers are too few. The Castle is damaged. Knowing my father, he probably has even more forces waiting. Any second, they will circle around us yet again. And by that time, it will be too late."

"Everyone," came Coran's mournful voice. "Lotor is correct. Our numbers are a fraction of when we started. It's a losing battle now."

There was a brief silence, punctuated by distant explosions. Something crashed.

"No! Don't tell me that all this was for nothing!" Keith screamed.

"Keith, there is nothing more we can do," Lotor said, almost gently.

"Since when did we listen to you?" Keith muttered.

"Since I saved your life," Lotor said, though his voice didn't hold the condescending tone that had always been present. "Face it, we've lost."

"Paladins!" Coran suddenly shrieked. "I've got more Galra ships incoming!"

* * *

Voltron whipped around to face the new threat. Too many ships to count were rapidly approaching.

"It's too late," Lotor said sadly. "The rest of his forces are here. There will be no escape."

"Guys, just go. Wormhole out of here," Hunk said in a rush.

"Not without you!" Lance said.

"Don't even think about us leaving you," Keith growled.

"Have you tried breaking out?" Allura asked.

"Yes. My cannon won't even leave a dent, and I can't hack the door without Pidge here."

"How about a back door?" Lance joked, causing the others to yell his name.

"Hang on, maybe Lance's got a point," Pidge mused.

"Pidge, shield!" Shiro abruptly yelled.

Pidge barely had time to summon Voltron's shield before an ion cannon blast ripped into the mighty warrior. The paladins yelled at the strain. Voltron dropped out of range, only to have to dodge away from another shot.

"Keep us clear for a moment," Pidge said, fingers moving rapidly across her console. "Between Green's technology and the upgrades Matt helped me install, there may be a way I can back-door the systems to the engine room, and open the door."

"On Zarkon's ship?" Allura asked incredulously.

"Well, Lotor showed me how to get into the systems, but we hadn't risked it before."

"You're welcome," Lotor said smugly.

"Can you turn off the power that way?" Shiro asked.

"Not right now." Pidge yelped as she was forced to raise Voltron's shield. "Those systems are too secure to hack in a few minutes, while battling. For now, I have access to cameras and maybe doors." She clicked a few more buttons, then her breath hissed out sharply. "This is bad."

"What?" Hunk asked, a bit shrilly.

"There's a couple dozen sentries posted outside the door. Unless you want to risk a firefight inside, I don't think opening the door is such a good idea right now."

Hunk was quiet for a moment, then said, "It may be my only option."

"We can't risk the canister being punctured," Matt protested. "As soon as it's exposed to open air, that thing's going off."

"Too dangerous," Shiro said, as if someone was going to protest.

Hunk surprised everyone by arguing. "If you guys can't get in, I'll have to get out."

"Just wait, we'll find another way," Shiro said.

A brief silence, then, "Shiro, have I ever told you how much I respect you as a leader?"

"Uh… Not in so many words?" Shiro grunted as Voltron was struck. Voltron spun, and a beam from Red blew the offending ship to pieces. "What are you getting at?"

"Nothing. It's just that no one ever says that to you. You've led us through seemingly impossible situations before, against enemies that were so much stronger than us."

Shiro threw Voltron into a dive. "Thanks, Hunk?" A blast struck Voltron from behind. "Gah! Pidge!"

Green whipped up the shield, redirecting another attack to destroy a Galra ship.

"Pidge, Matt," Hunk went on, "A bond between siblings is one of the strongest there is. You're an unstoppable team together, and have more smarts between you two than most scientists."

Pidge nervously eyed the console, where she had the camera view of the engine room. Hunk was standing frozen in front of the door, bayard held up.

"Hunk, what are you doing?" Pidge asked. "I already told you, I'm not opening that door!"

Hunk turned to the camera. "And I'm telling you that it's our only shot!"

"Don't do anything crazy, man!" Lance cut it. He thrust his bayard into Blue's keyhole, forming Voltron's sword. "We're gonna get you out of there."

"Lance, you've been my closest friend since the day we met. You never were cruel about my airsickness, and you were always there for me. I don't think I would have gotten so far at the Garrison without you." Hunk chuckled. "I certainly wouldn't be on this adventure of a lifetime without you."

Voltron lunged toward a group of cruisers, slicing them apart with one smooth swing. But in the midst of exploding ships, fighters buzzed from the smoke, shooting at Voltron from too many directions to dodge.

"There's too many!" Matt said, struggling to keep Voltron moving fast enough.

There was a strange sensation in his mind again, urging him to lift his hand. As soon as he did, there was a dim flash of light, then he found himself staring at the yellow bayard.

"Hunk!" Keith and Pidge yelled at the same time.

Hunk lifted his hand that had been holding his cannon a second before, now empty. "I figured you could use it more than me. Use it, Matt. You know how."

Matt frowned at the bayard, but then Voltron jolted from multiple blasts. Gritting his teeth, Matt shoved the bayard into place. A huge cannon formed on Voltron's shoulder, letting out hundreds of small shots that destroyed the fighters harrying the paladins.

"Ha, it worked!" Matt said with an incredulous laugh.

"See, you're a natural," Hunk said quietly.

"Hunk, what are you doing?" Keith demanded. "Giving Matt Yellow and your bayard? The way you're talking sounds like you saying…"

"Good-bye? I suppose you're the expert," Hunk said drily. "You always think we will be better off without you. Sure, we get along okay, but the team never feels complete when you're gone."

"Hunk, you are starting to worry me," Allura said. "You carry the same tone as my father before he… as the last time I spoke to the real him."

"Allura, you know better than all of us, what we are fighting for. You lost your home planet, and yet you still fight, not fading into the background like too many people do when they suffer loss."

"Hunk, you-" Allura broke off with a yell when Voltron didn't dodge fast enough.

"That's it!" Lance yelled.

Voltron's sword blazed brightly. There was a bright flash of light, then Voltron's wings expanded. The warrior shot out and around, obliterating any Galra ships in range.

"We're coming for you now, Hunk!" Lance growled.

But before Voltron could get far, an ion cannon blast stunned the paladins, causing them to float limply for a moment.

When they recovered, they were dismayed to see how far they had drifted from Zarkon's ship during the fight. The Galra ships rallied in front of them; they had to know that the team was trying to rescue a friend.

"How… how are we going to get through them?" Allura asked.

"Pidge, open the door!" Hunk ordered, glaring at the camera.

"No!" Pidge responded vehemently.

"It is our only chance," Hunk insisted. "If I can get clear fast enough, the bomb can take out all the controls. All those ships have to be piloted by sentries, this could take them all out!"

"No, that's insane," Shiro said sternly, readying himself and Voltron. "The second that door opens, you'll be overwhelmed. Captured, or… worse."

"We're coming for you, buddy," Lance said through gritted teeth.

"If you come for me, you could be captured!" Hunk yelled, pointing at the camera.

"Nothing is happening to this team," Shiro said. "Voltron, full speed!"

Powered by anger and a Hail Mary desperation, the paladins readied for another attack. Lance raised the sword. Pidge and Shiro attached their bayards, and the sword blazed brighter than ever. Allura and Matt put everything they had into speeding Voltron forward.

Voltron hit the wall of ships with such force and speed that they burst through in seconds. Lance swung the sword in an arc, clearing a path for Voltron to fly closer to Zarkon's ship. What allies were nearby gave cover fire, allowing Voltron to draw close to the massive ship.

"This is it," Shiro said. "We'll have to separate. Pidge and Lance, you get Hunk while the rest of us cover you from outside."

Everyone shouted confirmation but, before they could disband, Voltron froze. The paladins wrestled with the controls, but Voltron wouldn't move.

"What's happened?" Matt demanded, jerking on the controls to no avail.

Keith's eyes focused on the purple glow that now filled the space outside. "Tractor beam."

As Pidge's eyes roved across the console streaming alerts and data, she saw the camera view of Hunk flicker.

"Oh, no." Pidge ran her fingers across the controls. "Guys, it's kicking me out of the ship system."

"Pidge, I'm asking you for the last time. Open the door!" Hunk yelled. He shoved the bomb behind the console. "Once the bomb goes, Voltron will be free."

Pidge wanted to protest, tell Hunk yet again that opening the door wasn't an option. But her logical mind told her that Hunk's plan just might be Voltron's only shot.

Without giving herself a chance to second-guess herself, she rapidly typed in a code.

"Get ready!" Pidge yelled as her view of Hunk flickered and disappeared. "The door's opening now!"

* * *

Hunk couldn't believe that Pidge had finally granted his wish. No time to dwell on it, though, the sentries had already spotted the opening and lifted their guns. Wishing for his familiar cannon, Hunk lifted the Galra gun and shot the first couple sentries before they could get a shot out.

The sentries recovered fast -they were robots, after all- and Hunk had to form his shield and duck behind it. When the shots lessened somewhat, he stood and let loose. He took down several as they were passing through the door, forcing the sentries behind them to shove their way through first. Hunk gritted his teeth and shot them one after another, realizing for the first time that there were more sentries than he had thought.

Hunk's method of fighting had always been, full force and guns blazing. There was no way to protect himself. He had never realized how much he depended on the cover of his teammates, until the next moment.

Impact on his arm made Hunk cry out and stumble backwards. Lifting his shield, he let his head drop. His gun arm had been hit hard, nearly causing him to drop his gun.

The sentries ran into the room, as if sensing Hunk had been beat. Hunk momentarily zoned out with the pain, listening to the paladins over the coms.

"This is useless!" Allura cried. "We can't move and- wait, what's that?"

Lance gave a tight chuckle. "Either Zarkon's big on smoke machines, or Haggar's getting ready to blast us."

No one yelled at the red paladin. They were quiet, too quiet, as if already accepting their doomed fate.

A strong presence filled Hunk's mind in a rumbling hum. The feeling was sad, defeated.

 _Yellow!_ If even the mighty lion was accepting that Voltron had lost, Zarkon had won.

Well, Hunk for one, wasn't going to give in that easily.

Hunk's head shot up, jolting back to reality. The sentries were right on top of him! Giving a battle-cry, Hunk surged forward, knocking several sentries down by bashing their heads off with a mighty swing of the gun. A flailing sentry struck Hunk in the stomach, and he returned the favor by shooting it.

A haze of determination settled over Hunk. Voltron couldn't lose this fight. He shot, swung, kicked, picked up a new gun as his emptied, and fought on.

Minutes later, Hunk realized there was nothing more to hit. He looked around at the broken sentries scattered across the floor. His stolen gun fell to the ground with a clatter.

He turned to make his way back to the bomb, only to stumble and cry out. Collapsing to his knees, Hunk pressed a hand to his stomach. Apparently, the sentry had hit him harder than he had thought. Further checks found his armor broken and burnt, his gun hand badly wounded, and there had to be injuries Hunk couldn't yet see.

Gritting his teeth -the paladins were screaming that the attack was soon to come- Hunk forced himself to his feet. He staggered over to the bomb. He dragged it out and started the timer.

Nineteen minutes. By then, it would be too late for Voltron. Quiznak, it would take that long just for Hunk to get down the hall.

"Are you… sure you can't get out of the tractor beam?" Hunk asked, pushing himself slowly away from the console.

Keith answered -the others were so busy struggling against the beam that Hunk wasn't sure if they had even heard him. "They're trying, but… Haggar's attack has ripped us apart before. Sorry, Hunk… I don't think Voltron will be winning this war."

Hunk stumbled over a sentry arm and collapsed to the ground with a sharp yell.

"Hunk? Hunk, what happened?" Keith asked.

Hunk's breath came hard and fast, and he was unable to answer right away. Even through his panting, Hunk could hear metallic feet coming closer. More sentries, and Hunk was in no condition to fight anymore.

"Keith." Hunk pushed himself onto his side and said softly, "I want you to do something for me. It won't be easy, I know, but I want you to."

Hunk heard Keith swallow, most likely feeling helpless as Zarkon struggled against the tractor beam. The paladins still didn't respond to Hunk's words, leaving the two friends in private conversation.

"Anything, just name it," Keith said.

Hunk grabbed a fallen gun and pulled it to his side. "Tell Shay that meeting her was one of the best days of my life. And… and tell my family that I'm sorry I won't be coming home."

Keith gave a hard puff of breath. "What are you saying? For the hundredth time, we aren't leaving you!"

"I know that." Hunk lifted the gun slightly, pointing it at the bomb. "And I understand now. It wouldn't have just been a stupid sacrifice."

And with that, Hunk pulled the trigger.

* * *

An explosion bloomed in the center of Zarkon's ship. All the paladins flinched as the huge ship seemed to crack in half. A blast of black energy shot wildly into space, blowing up several Galra cruisers in its path. Fighters and cruisers alike powered down to float lifelessly in space. Voltron was freed from the beam. Voltron allies cheered and rallied together.

For about fifteen seconds, no one but Keith truly realized what Hunk had done.

"You did it, Hunk!" Shiro said, piloting Voltron to a safe distance.

"Good job, man!" Lance whooped. He looked around, grin fading slightly. "Hunk?"

Keith couldn't breathe. He stared with wide eyes at the ship wreckage. His mouth formed soundless words.

A low beep across the silence of the coms made every look around. Pidge, realizing the beep had come from her own console, dropped her gaze.

Vital read-outs of the other paladins ran across the screen. All were a little high -battle situations had that effect- excepting one pulsing, flat line.

"Hu- Hunk!" Pidge panted.

"Where? I don't see him!" Lance said.

"He… he." Pidge couldn't talk, only stare at the flat line on her console.

Keith finally rasped, "Hunk never left the engine room."

A chilling silence fell across the coms as each paladin, rebel, and Blade of Marmora turned their eyes toward Zarkon's ship, straining to catch sight of that familiar yellow armor.

Every searching eye, every hopeful gaze found the same thing: nothing. Nothing but twisted metal and emptiness.

Tears blurred Lance's vision. He blinked frantically, scanning space. Hunk couldn't be gone, he just couldn't. This was Hunk! He was the team's rock, steady and stable and always there! He and Yellow had gone through such lengths to protect the team… but Lance didn't realize how far his friend would go.

A heart-rending shriek shattered the fragile silence. It took Lance a moment to realize the broken sound was coming from his own throat.

"Hunk!" Lance screamed. His tears finally let loose, streaming down his face to drip off his chin onto the console.

"Hunk? Hunk, come in!" Shiro ordered, tone harsh to hide his horror.

"Please come in," Allura pleaded.

"Hunk, if you're fooling us, I'm taking away Yellow's cloaking!" Pidge choked on her words.

Matt could only stare incredulously forward as the wreckage of Zarkon's ship. The whole structure was darkened. Only the occasional ship piloted by a living Galra zipped about.

Something wet dropped on the back of Matt's hand. He glanced at the drop, confused, then looked up.

Keith was crying. Stoic, fierce, untouchable Keith was crying.

"Why?" Keith said with an uncharacteristic whimper everyone pretended not to hear.

"He did it for us," Matt said. "To protect us."

"Because that's what the yellow paladin does." Pidge scrubbed her eyes clear. "I don't know about you guys, but I am not letting him die in vain!"

"Hunk took out Zarkon's power source for us, and most of his ships," Shiro put in. His voice wavered. "We won't let his sacrifice go unrewarded."

Allura blinked rapidly and gripped Blue's control's tightly. "There will be time for grief later. We must attack now, when the Galra are vulnerable. When this battle is done, we will honor our fallen friend."

Lance lifted his head. Tears still ran down his face, but his face was clenched in determination. "Let's take down Zarkon."

The paladins, rebels, and Blades of Marmora turned all their ships toward Zarkon's ship. They brushed past the measly troops remaining. Courage and fire filled their eyes.

They weren't just fighting a tyrant now. They were fighting for justice for friends lost that day. For sacrifices made. For freedom and their homes.

They were ending this fight now, and forever. Zarkon's reign was at an end.

"For Hunk," Lance whispered.

He thought no one had heard him, but a second later, everyone echoed him.

"For Hunk!"


	12. To Touch the Stars

****/N: Inspired by the season seven trailer, namely Hunk stating that all their allies thought the paladins were dead. Completely unrelated to my other post-season six story,**** ** _ _ **Find Your Place.**__**

 ** **Thanks to Cuthalion97 for being the beta of my chaotic first draft!****

 ** **Synopsis: (Not a death-fic, but does sound like it. Post-season six.) All he wanted was to touch the stars...****

 ** **Rating: K+****

 ** **Genres: Angst/Family****

* * *

 _ _All he wanted was to touch the stars.__

"Hello?"

 _ _The first memories he had was of standing with his parents, gazing up at the pinpricks of light in the dark sky. He was full of joy and awe as he listened to his father point out constellations and name stars.__

 _ _In that moment, he wanted to go to space.__

"Is anyone out there?"

 _ _As he grew older, his wonder only grew. His desire to see more of God's creation filled his every waking moment. He studied the stars, drinking in his father's knowledge like a sponge.__

 _ _When his little sister was old enough, he took her outside at night and got to see his own wonder reflected in her big eyes.__

 _ _Her little hands had raised to the heavens, asking her big brother to take her there like he carried her up the stairs. Oh, if he could have, he would have scooped her up and leaped into the sky.__

 _ _Instead, he promised that one day, they would touch the stars together.__

"Voltron paladins, come in! Can any of you hear me?"

 _ _The dream never died, never dimmed. Learning of the Garrison made the dream all the more real. News of the Kerberos mission fanned the burning desire into raging joy.__

 _ _They were taking the first step. Maybe his sister was too young for the mission, but he was paving the path for his little sister.__

"Somebody, come in!"

 _ _She had kidded him, that day of the launch, saying that she would come get him if he didn't come home.__

 _ _They had laughed. Surely nothing could prevent him from returning, to bring her on the next trip. It was a simple mission, what could go wrong?__

"Come on, there has to be a paladin listening! Tell me what is happening!"

 _ _Everything had gone wrong. He was lost to space, to the cruelty of the Galra. He thought that he would never get home. Even when he was freed from the Galra, thoughts of returning to Earth seemed impossible.__

 _ _Until the day he found himself staring into the brown eyes of his sister once more. She had come for him. She had really come.__

"Coran? Quiznak, Coran, the Castleship's got to be receiving this! What is going on?!"

 _ _Their dream had come true. Together, they could explore new worlds, map stars never seen, learn about creatures they never could have dreamed existed.__

 _ _They could touch the stars.__

"Please… Somebody has to be hearing this!"

 _ _How could everything go so wrong, so fast? He had left for just a few days, and came back to news that something had gone wrong with Lotor and Shiro.__

 _ _The team needed him. His sister needed him.__

 _ _He had jumped on the first ship he found, demanding answers from the rebels as he raced back to Olkarion.__

"Pidge! Shiro! Allura, anybody!"

 _ _The message had come over the comms just a few minutes ago. Voltron had disappeared from radio contact. Massive, unexplainable surges of energy. Then the Castle had seemingly vanished. Deep-space probes reported that Diabazal was completely gone.__

"Katie?"

* * *

Now, static fills his ears between pleas. His eyes blur as he turns them to empty space.

What he would give to hear his sister's laughter once again. To feel one of her playful punches on his side as she tells him to stop staring at the princess. To watch her fingers fly across the keyboard, intent on the complexities of some code.

"I'm sorry."

He never should have gone on the mission. He never should have gone to the Garrison. He never should have shown her the stars, or let his own dreams of the stars grow.

How would he explain this to Mom and Dad? Mom had gone almost two years thinking her family was gone; how would her youngest being gone for real affect her? And Dad… he had promised Dad to protect his sister.

And now she was gone. Lost to the very stars toward which they had been reaching for years.

"I-I never thought…"

He tries to go on, but his voice melts into a sob that echoes through the cockpit. His head drops to the console, one hand slamming against the radio mocking him with its static devoid of any voices.

Once, all Matt had wanted was to touch the stars with Pidge.


	13. A Mother Never Forgets

**A/N: This was my one-year-on-this-site-anniversary gift to me! -hugs fic- I'm so happy!**

 **Notes: A Voltron/HTTYD crossover, featuring Keith and Krolia in the place of Hiccup and Valka.**

 **This is just a brief history, since this is a one-shot. Giving it in the story didn't work, as it drew away from the story if I included it. You can read the A/N, or go on and figure it out as you go. If you want a more complete list of who replaces who in this AU, I have it on my profile for now.**

 **Keith was found as a baby by the father of Narti and Acxa as his mother -a stranger found an an empty island- was carried off by dragons. Keith was adopted by the Berserker chief as a baby and lived with them until he and his adoptive sister Acxa had snuck onto a raid boat. Keith was found by Shiro (then eleven years old) during the raid on Berk, and he lost track of Acxa. Acxa takes the place of Heather, and has the same follow-up story as Heather did in Defender/Riders of Berk and Race to the Edge. Keith also has a prosthetic.**

* * *

Keith glared into the sky's expanse. A well of anger boiled and built up inside him, finally exploding with a frustrated yell out of his mouth. He flung his arms into the air as he screamed, finally flopping backward on Red's back when his breath was spent.

Red cocked his head and rumbled softly in concern.

Keith sighed. He ran his hand across the Red Fury's back, causing the cyan markings on the dragon's face to briefly glow brighter.

"It's okay, bud. I won't let anything happen to you."

Keith scowled. How could Shiro be so stubborn? The man who had been like a brother to him since he was five had never hesitated to listen to any of Keith's ideas. Even the foolish ones were simply diverted, he had never outright told Keith such a fierce no. Keith's eyes closed as he thought back to the events of the last day.

After coming across Iverson and his crew capturing dragons, Keith and his friends had learned of a man named Sendak who was building a dragon army for some reason. When Keith had told Shiro about Sendak, Shiro had panicked and ordered the island Garrison to be locked down. Sure that Sendak could be persuaded from his crazy scheme, Keith had left on Red to find Iverson to get Sendak's location. Pidge had followed on Green, and Keith had allowed them both to be "caught" by Iverson. He had been so close to convincing Iverson to bring him to Sendak, when Shiro had come with Sam, Lance, and Hunk to bring him home. They had argued and, well, then Keith was screaming at the sky.

Why did Shiro insist that Sendak couldn't be swayed? A few years ago, Keith would never have thought that the Vikings and dragons could be friends, yet there he was, riding on the back of the one of the five legendary Furies. They used to -sometimes still, but mostly in jest- be called the "unholy offspring of lightning and death," but Red was friendly and even playful at times. If the village could be convinced, why not this Sendak?

Red's rumble, sounding concerned, brought Keith's attention back to the present. Red was staring at something to the side, and growling. There was the sound of large wingbeats.

"Oh, come on, Shiro!" Keith said in exasperation, figuring Shiro had followed on Black. He sat up as a figure appeared from the clouds.

It wasn't Shiro.

It was human-shaped, with two arms and legs, but the face was like a dragon. The eyes were black pits, and there were spikes on the edges of its face. The body was covered in what looked like scales. The scales were a dark purple on the face and shoulders that faded into a sky blue at its feet. A clawed -but still un-dragonish- paw held a long staff with holes in it. It had no wings, and its body was still and upright even as it kept up effortlessly with Red.

While Keith stared in awe, the figure made a slight movement with the staff and slipped beneath the clouds. Red growled, and Keith absently put a hand on the dragon's head. With his other hand, he tugged up on the collar of his furred vest.

He knew from experience that some dragons became defensive when they saw the triangular birthmarks that ran just under either eye down his cheeks and ended on his shoulders. Until he figured out the strange new dragon/person, he didn't want to take any risks.

Keith scanned the clouds, but the figure had vanished.

"It's okay. Just no sudden moves."

Red suddenly reeled back as a Stormcutter dragon as big as Black burst out of the clouds in front of him. Keith was nearly thrown from his seat and Red's wingbeats faltered as Keith's prosthetic slipped from the pedal. Keith quickly grabbed Red's neck and replaced the prosthetic. Red steadied out, allowing Keith to turn his eyes to the larger dragon.

The Stormcutter swung an arc in the air above the pair. The figure was perched on his head, black eyes staring at Keith and Red. The Stormcutter pulled up in front of the hovering Red and his two sets of wings separated so that four massive wings beat to keep it in place.

Red snarled a warning, and the Stormcutter snarled back. The dragons' wings were stirring up the clouds so much that Keith could barely see the Stormcutter.

"Hold on," Keith muttered to Red, mind racing. Who was this stranger? Was it even human? "Hold on."

Something roared off to the side, making Keith jump and whip his head around just as dragons appeared from the clouds. Keith barely had time to flinch, then felt talons grab his shoulders. Keith was easily ripped from Red's back

Red roared in panic as the force flipped him upside down. His markings faded into his scales while he desperately thrashed to right himself, but to no avail. He quickly plummeted out of sight.

"Red!" Keith yelled in a panic.

In the events of Keith meeting Red for the first time, Red's tailfin had been damaged and he had lost one of the fins. The only way he could fly was when a rider controlled a pedal attached to an artificial fin on Red's tail.

"Red, no!" Keith kicked uselessly at the air. He looked up at the Stormcutter leading the Snafflefang that was carrying him. "We have to go back for my dragon! He can't fly on his own! He'll drown!"

The figure gave no response. It turned away, and Keith looked ahead. His eyes widened.

They were in the middle of the ocean, and there was a mass of ice bigger than some islands he had seen. The ice was cloudy purple-blue, and stuck out in spikes like when Iverson's base had been destroyed.

While Keith gaped, the dragons reached the ice mass and dove into tunnels in the surface. They flew through the winding tunnels for a brief time before emerging into a larger space. Keith was released and unceremoniously dumped onto a stone ground.

Keith stumbled to his feet, then jerked backward when a dragon bared its teeth in his face. He spun around, and was confronted with a snarl from another dragon. He turned in a quick circle, and found himself surrounded by dragons.

Movement from above caught his eye, and Keith spotted the Stormcutter further in the shadows. The figure -its scales nearly invisible against the ice- watched silently from the dragon's shoulder.

"We have to go back for my dragon," Keith pleaded.

Few things mattered to Keith in life, and Red was one of them. He _had_ to make sure his best friend was okay!

The figure was unsympathetic and Keith had to admit that he had more immediate problems when the other dragons started to get closer.

" _Focus,"_ Keith told himself, unconsciously thinking of Shiro's famous "patience yields focus" phrase he was always using. " _If the dragons see you as a friend, then the Rider should see that I mean them no harm."_

Keith reached into his vest, where he stored his two blades. Bane, a blade he had had for as long as he could remember, was feared by most dragons for reason Keith had yet to uncover. Inferno, a newer blade of his own invention, had many flame-centered modes.

Deciding Inferno would serve his purpose better, Keith pulled out what appeared to be a simple handle. But, a flick of his finger, and the retractable frame of the blade opened. It was covered in Monstrous Nightmare gel, which Keith ignited with a press of a button.

The light allowed Keith to see that he was in a cave. It had stone floors and icy walls and ceiling. It was also very full of Snafflefangs, Hobblegrunts, and a few Nadders. The Stormcutter and strange Rider were against the far wall, watching Keith closely.

Keith took a breath and slowly waved Inferno around. When there was a growl from behind, Keith quickly turned to show the Snafflefang Inferno. The dragon cooed, eyes softening when they locked onto the flames.

Keith turned in a slow circle, moving Inferno slowly to catch the dragons' attention. Within moments, the dragons had calmed and watched the fiery blade swing back and forth.

Keith's eyes flicked up to the Rider. Its head was cocked to the side, much like the entranced dragons surrounding Keith.

One last move. Keith retracted Inferno's blade. He smoothly slipped out an empty capsule from the bottom of the handle and replaced it with a new one from his belt. Crouching, Keith spun in a circle and pressed another button to release the Zippleback gas around him. He flicked the spark button, and the gas caught fire briefly. It flared up around him, then faded away as Keith stood.

A thump made Keith spin around. The Rider had dropped to the ground and slowly approached him at a half-crouch.

"Who are you?" Keith asked, turning as the Rider circled him. "The dragon thief? Sendak Bludvist?"

The Rider didn't respond, though it did stop circling.

Keith's eyes narrowed. "Do you even understand what I am saying?"

The Rider suddenly swung its staff up. Keith flinched, but the Rider wasn't attacking. It spun the staff over its head, making a humming sound, then slammed the staff to the ground. A rattling from inside the staff echoed through the cave.

A Tide Glider swooped in from one of the connecting tunnels, dropped something big and wet, then flew out. The object stood and shook itself, revealing it to be-

"Red!"

Keith ran to Red and wrapped his arms around the dazed dragon's neck. After a second, Red cooed and pressed his head to Keith's back.

"It's okay, it's okay," Keith murmured, as much to himself as to Red.

Keith forgot about the Rider watching them and the dragons surrounding them. He had thought that he lost Red.

A rattling from behind and a growl from Red made Keith turn quickly. The Rider was gently shaking its staff. The motion must have been a command, because the dragons in the cave opened their mouths and produced a gentle flame in their mouths, lighting the cave fully.

The Rider approached them at a creeping crouch like a cautious dragon. Red growled louder and curled his tail protectively around Keith.

The Rider dropped its staff and stepped closer. Red backed away, and Keith followed. Despite having Red back and befriending the dragons in the cave, there was something about the odd Rider that put Keith on edge.

When the Rider was close enough to touch Red, it raised a hand toward Red's muzzle. Red sniffed it curiously, then let the Rider run a paw down his cheek. Suddenly, Red purred and flopped to the ground as the Rider's paw scratched his sweet spot. The Rider gave Red a pat, then turned to Keith.

Keith stumbled away from Red and the Rider, and felt himself hit a wall. He pressed himself into the cold ice, feeling defenseless with Red sprawled on the ground.

The Rider stepped even closer, and Keith finally realized that it was no dragon. The "face" had clear stitching and paint lines. The eyes of the mask were a black material that must have allowed the wearer to see out, but hid the Rider's eyes. The clothing was sewn to overlap like the scales of a dragon.

The Rider raised a paw -no, hand. It had the same scale-texture cloth, and clawed gauntlets attached over the fingers.

With the hand coming toward him, Keith couldn't stop himself any longer. A hand whipped onto his vest for Bane's blade while he tried to angle his head up and away from the Rider's hand. He started to panic at the Rider's closeness, his breath speeding up. The collar of his vest slipped down as he grabbed Bane.

The Rider suddenly shrunk away. Keith was practically gasping by now, as he fumbled for Bane and pulled it out. He extended the blade, and the Rider flinched further away.

"Who are you?" Keith asked, forcing his voice to remain level.

"Keith?"

The voice was rough as if from lack of use, muffled by the mask, and incredulous. It was also female.

"Wh-what?"

The Rider reached up and removed the mask, revealing the face of a middle-aged woman. She had the same marks on her pale face as Keith. She stared at Keith with wide purple eyes.

"Could it be possible?" the woman murmured, almost to herself. "After all these years."

"I-I'm sorry. Do I know you?" Keith asked, confused but his overwhelming fear had faded at seeing a normal person under the mask. It helped that Red had come out of his dreamy state and rejoined Keith.

The woman's expression fell. "No… You were only a baby. I wish I had not left." Her eyes met Keith's and she said, "But a mother never forgets."

Keith stared at the woman. It couldn't be. His mother was dead.

And yet. Purple eyes stared into Keith's, lighter than the boy's but still so similar. The woman had the same birthmark on her face. She even had her hair twisted back into a small braid like Keith!

"You're my-"

Keith couldn't get the last word out. The earlier breathlessness returned, and he started gasping.

Worry appeared in the Ri- his mother's face. She reached out a calming hand to Keith, but the boy reeled away from the guantlet-clawed hand. Keith stumbled into the ice wall again, and she pulled her hand away.

His mother looked at her hand, then back to Keith. A secretive joy, like she was about to reveal a great secret, lit up her face.

"Come," she said simply, then bounded off.

Keith gaped after her. It wasn't until Red rumbled and nudged his hand, that Keith was able to snap out of his shock.

"Mom?"


	14. So I Hear You Like Bad Boys

**A/N: The story for this came from a comic, but with Tails and Cream in place of Keith and Pidge. Enjoy! XD**

 **Synopsis: Keith regrets going to Matt for advice on how to catch Pidge's attention.**

 **Rating: K+**

 **Genres: Humor/"Romance"**

* * *

It was very hard to catch Pidge's attention. No one knew this more than Keith.

Pidge was so often in the Garrison labs that she was easy enough to track down, but that was as far as Keith usually got. Keith could spend an hour standing beside Pidge and she'd never notice.

Yes, he'd tried.

Finally, Keith grew desperate.

* * *

" _Why am I doing this?"_

Keith opened the door to the lab and went in. A few technicians glanced up, then ignored him. They knew why he was there.

Keith walked up to Pidge's lab table and waited. She didn't look up from her work. The same response as always, but Keith had a new plan today.

Rounding the table, Keith grabbed a nearby chair. He set it across from Pidge. Still no response.

" _Here goes nothing."_

Keith stepped up on the chair. Ignoring the curiosity that this caused -not from Pidge, of course- Keith then lifted a foot and slammed it down on the table.

Pidge jumped, dropping her micro-welder. She looked up.

Now for the final step. Leaning his elbows against his raised knee, Keith gave Pidge his best smirk.

"So, I hear you like bad boys," Keith said, trying to make his voice a bit gravelly.

Pidge's brows rose past her goggles. Very slowly, she said, "Not really…"

"Oh, thank goodness," Keith breathed, slumping against his knee. "I hated that."

Keith dragged his foot off the table and dropped to sit in the chair. He dropped his head back to stare at the ceiling.

"What made you think I liked bad boys?"

Keith blinked and lifted his head. Pidge's attention was still on him! He cleared his throat sheepishly.

"Um… Matt told me."

"And you believed him?" Pidge's face was blank.

"...yes?"

Pidge continued to stare at him, expressionless. Keith wondered if it was too late to run away and pretend like nothing had happened. Probably, but it wouldn't hurt to try…

Pidge snorted, finally losing her composure. She threw her head back and laughed long and loud. Keith chuckled awkwardly, uncertain.

"You looked ridiculous!" Pidge howled.

Keith's laugh was more genuine now. "You should have seen your face."

The pair dissolved into helpless laughter, oblivious to the confused technicians and Lance's camera pointed at them.

"I can't believe he fell for that," Matt muttered to Lance, his partner in crime.

"I can," Lance snickered back.

* * *

 **Guest review responses:**

 **Guest: (Ch. 11) I dare. XD Yeah, I just... had to? (Ch. 12) These are the scenes that really would have ripped out our hearts in the show. Wish they showed it... Welp. Thanks!**

 **Hi: Thanks for the suggestion. I got it done, and hopefully I can get it into place. 0w0**


	15. Remember Me Smiling

**A/N: This story was inspired by three things. Two are prompts from Shiranai Atsune, who wanted an Altean Lance and a fic about Lance seeing the future. The third is the thought that if the makers of Voltron really wanted to rip out their watchers' hearts, then they would have killed Lance.**

 **Oh, Langst, by the way.**

 **It's vastly different than my normal style, but I still like it in an odd way.**

 **Synopsis: (Altean/seer Lance AU) Lance always knew they'd win the war. Just like he knew that he wouldn't survive it.**

 **Rating: K+**

 **Genres: Angst**

* * *

Alteans were sometimes born with special gifts. Usually royalty, like King Alfor's quintessence concentration or Allura's healing. On occasion, an unroyal Altean was especially gifted.

Lanzorian -usually called Lance- was one such Altean.

Born to a farming family, no one gave much thought to Lance's seeming to know events before they happened. Dreams, visions, and instinctive knowledge that turned out to be real, Lance had them all.

If he told them that a storm was coming, they finished the chores quickly and stayed inside. When he insisted that an old fat Lokine mare was soon due for a foal, they kept her in the barn until she birthed a fine young foal.

It all worked out in the end, and word of Lance's gift just never spread beyond family. They were happy.

Then came the day that the Voltron lions flew overhead.

"I'm going to fly her one day," Lance said to his sister Veronia, pointing to the Blue Lion. He then pointed to the Red Lion. "And him, but later."

Confused but believing, Lance's parentsconvinced a family friend to teach Lance to fight. They didn't know how or why Lance would be a paladin, but he would be prepared when it happened.

* * *

Ten deca-pheobs later, a teenage Lance told his family to go. Visit a trading planet as far as they could manage, disguise themselves, and never mention Altea again.

They left, and Lance began his travel to the capital. He arrived the day of the invasion, found a transportable cryo-pod, and snuck into the Blue Lion's hanger. The Lion let him aboard, and he hid himself in the cryo-pod. He slept.

* * *

Ten thousand deca-pheobs later, he opened his eyes to four amazed faces. His team. He already knew Blaytz's fate, and mourned with Blue as he took the pilot's chair. He flew the humans to space, and took the wormhole that Blue helped him make.

On Arus, he met Allura. The princess he knew he would fall in love with… He determined to enjoy her company while it lasted.

* * *

For the next two deca-pheobs, the paladins fought the age-long war. There were times that everyone was losing hope, but Lance never did. He faced every battle with confidence and gave his team a smile.

"We're winning!" Lance would say, no matter the situation.

It didn't matter if the paladins were up to their hips in acid muck, surrounded by Galra, in a cell, or trapped under rubble. Lance would smile and spew his confidence.

That kind of ticked Keith off at times, but it was a small price to pay. Lance knew that they'd be friends by the time Keith left for the Blades, so he didn't let the early scowls and scoldings bother him.

* * *

It was kind of funny, at first. He knew that Pidge was a girl (he played up ignorance for the team's amusement), knew Hunk would go all starry-eyed at Shay and knew about Kaltenecker the moment he stepped into the space mall.

Later, it was less fun. Shiro died, Lance had to leave Blue, Keith left the team, and when clone-Shiro came, Lance couldn't warn anyone.

Lotor came. He stole Allura's heart and an entire empire, then went insane and died in the quintessence field. (Lance had thought that he was losing his touch when he saw that was going to happen, but then it did.)

The paladins won that fight, as Lance confidently said they would, then had to repair tears in space at a great cost. Lance wished he could have warned Coran, but was there any way to prepare the advisor?

Three deca-pheobs later that was only a moment to the team, they were in a new world of chaos and collapse.

"We have to go back to Earth," were Lance's words.

Lance's "instinct" had never been wrong before, so the paladins set out. Found Earth, freed them of the Purification Fire, and celebrated in the thought that the war was over.

Soon, it would be. But not yet. They had one more fight.

* * *

The quintant came. The quintant that had haunted Lance for as long as he could remember.

They saved Honerva, but not the realities. Lance knew that but also that they would save them, so he smiled. He knew -oh, spirits, did he know- the price to save the realities, and still he smiled.

They were going to save them all, so he smiled.

Honerva knew how to restore the realities, but it was a job that required the quintessence twist of the Sincline ships and the energy of Voltron. Two mechs, two pilots. Someone needed to fly Voltron.

Allura? The colony needed a princess.

Keith? Half-Galra that he was, the remnants of the empire would listen to him.

Shiro? Earth needed a leader.

Hunk? In this time of chaos, they needed a diplomat like him more than ever.

Pidge? Her brains would lead to wormholes that would unite galaxies.

Lance? Lance, the boy without a kingdom and whose family was long gone.

It wasn't really a choice, no matter what Allura said.

He'd seen this quintant so long ago, and thought he was ready. He wasn't.

His smile was almost a grimace and the only shine in his eyes were tears. His laughter was broken by sobs.

Lance, who didn't need a kingdom; he had a pride. Lance, who had a family in bond and not blood.

Lance, who smiled as he faced his destiny. Closed his eyes and let the tears flow over a broken grin.

Lance, whose final words were, "Remember me smiling."


	16. Leap of Faith

**A/N: Synopsis: Blue encourages Lance to take a leap of faith. (Season one.)**

 **Notes: Written in under an hour, you can thank Edmund dramatic steping into open air in the _Chronicles of Narnia_ while looking terrified because he _could_ and the "it's a leap of faith" line that I haven't been able to get out of my head since watching _Into the Spider-Verse._ So. Also, I tried a new technique called an anaphora, which is supposed to give prose the "slow motion montage backed by Gregorian choir" effect.**

 **Rating: K**

 **Genre: Drama**

* * *

Lance is heaving for breath as he tears around yet another corner of the building, purple laser blasts practically skimming his armor. He can't afford to slow down, but running is getting him nowhere. The stone building reminds Lance of an old castle. One with dozens of halls that interconnect and splits off in random ways, quickly getting the unfamiliar lost.

The mission wasn't supposed to be like this. But, the battle had gone sideways and Shiro had called for a retreat. Lance, high above at a window to cover the rest of the team, had a more roundabout route to the Green Lion for evac than the others. That route had led to a dozen sentries and, well, now Lance was running for his life.

Lance throws himself into another hall, losing precious speed when he crashs into the wall. But as he recovers and continues to run, he sees light ahead. Encouraged, he puts on a burst of speed and sprints up the stairs. He throws open the door and runs out. All he has to do is jetpack to the ground and-

 _Stop!_

The mental roar is still new to Lance, and startles him enough that he skitters to a stop right at the parapet. He stares down through a gap and swallows.

In his rush, he'd forgotten that three of the castle's walls were built right on a cliff's edge. The drop below him is thousands of feet, perfect for deterring attackers but making escape from there impossible.

Approaching clanking makes Lance spin around in time to see sentries nearly at the door. He kicks the door shut, and gratefully drops the bar convientiently hinged beside the door. Finally, after all the spacey technology, _this_ was a planet that made sense.

 _Run!_

Right. Already, the door is cracking under the pounding of the sentries. He has seconds, and is already running before the thought fully processes. If he could just follow the battlements to the front of the castle, then he could get to the ground.

"Shiro," Lance pants. "Where you guys at?"

"We had to take off," Shiro says, voice tight like he's gritting his teeth. "Get to high ground, and we'll pick you up once it's clear."

"Can't get much higher," Lance says, grinning grimly. "I'm at the top of the castle."

"It's not a castle," Keith juts in. "It's called a zindara."

"It's a castle," Lance snaps, hearing the door break behind him.

"Later, you two," Shiro cuts in. "Lance, stand your ground. We'll be down in two doboshes."

"Fine," Lance huffs, eyes trained ahead.

In fifteen feet, the battlement turned. He knows the next stretch of battlement also edged cliff, but if he can run the length of that one...

Lance's eyes find another patrol of sentries after the turn. If he keeps going, he'll run smack into them. Stop, and the sentries behind him will catch up. Don't take the turn, end up a pancake of the valley floor.

 _Keep going!_

Lance jumps again and picks up the pace that he'd subconsciously slowed. "Really? Because the sentries in front of me are going to be so much nicer than the ones behind." His words ooze sarcasm.

"What?!" Hunk exclaims.

"Talking to Blue, Hunk." Lance sighs, a yard from the turn. "She wants me to-"

 _Jump!_

"What?"

 _Jump, my cub!_

No time to think. One step. Two. Lunge for the parapet, feet hitting parapet for a half-second of "what the quiznak am I doing?!" thoughts. One more running step finds open air, and his planted foot _shoves_.

And Lance is falling. Past the carved castle walls, where there was only the natural rock beside, mist concealing ground below, impossibly blue sky above. No Green Lion, no pods. Nothing but the wind.

Wind in his ears, competing against the pounding of blood.

Wind in his eyes, filling them with tears.

Wind roaring like lion, sweeping him down into the darkness and mist-

 _My cub!_

A blur of silver and blue, then Lance's fall is broken. He tumbles across the metal surface, impact so light Lance barely feels it. He stares at the roof of Blue's mouth, then a choked whoop comes from his throat. He scrambles to his feet, shaking slightly from lingering adrenaline.

"Good girl, Blue! You beautiful, amazing girl!" Lance jogs toward the cockpit. "Hey, guys? Blue and I will meet you at the Castle."

Lance sinks into the pilot's seat, blocking out the questions of the team. He runs a thankful hand across the console, closing his eyes with a huge grin as Blue purrs in his head.

 _My cub._

* * *

 **A/N: I intended to follow up _Remember Me Smiling_ with a purely fluff story, but I got this stuck in my head and couldn't seem to shake it. And, well, the best way to fix that is to write it, right? -pleased grin-**

 **Guest review responses!**

 **Random Fan: -already in my bunker- Nobody can harm me here! I'll try to hold off on the angst... for a couple of chapters.**

 **Random Fan's Sis: Okay, so I'm not so good with technology, but... have you tried switching your brain off, then back on? You'd be amazed how well it works. And, yeah... I am evil. -grins-**


	17. Marks in the Dark

**A/N: If any of my readers don't read the AN... they'll be so confused. XD I had this AU idea and wrote it out, then discovered it wasn't as funny as I wanted it to be. So, I rewrote it to be funny, but I still liked the original. So, I decided to post them both. This is the funny one, and I'll be posting the more serious one soon. Both chapters cover the same event, but played out differently.**

 **Now, this AU will make no sense out of context, but I didn't want to write all the changes leading up to this. Long story short, this is from Veronica's perspective when the paladins return, but with a twist. Events prevented the paladins from returning for several more months than in canon, so the Garrison fell and the free humans were forced underground.**

 **"Normal speech"**

 **"Sign language."**

 **Synopsis: (AU) Veronica and the MFE pilots find a stranger in unfamiliar white-and-blue armor while on patrol. Suspicions and oblivion ensue.**

 **Ranking: K**

 **Genre: Family/Humor**

* * *

Veronica was ninety-five percent sure that Rizavi had a theme song for the crew. Either that, or she was humming the same repetitive, unrecognizable tune over and over without realizing it.

For the tenth time in as many minutes, Griffin looked over his shoulder at Rizavi. He would stare at her, then slightly shake his head and face forward.

At which point, Rizavi would hum louder.

Veronica was glad she had her tinted helmet to hide her face, or else her grin would give her away. A part of her wanted to tell Rizavi to stop her incessant humming, but she was bored and a larger part took a fair amount of glee in Griffin's reactions.

Okay, so Veronica was pretty easily entertained these days. But every day, she was patrolling the underground tunnels that surrounded the refugee base. They never found anything, and nothing ever happened.

Until, of course, the day that Rizavi decided to hum at unprecedented volume, which was apparently very distracting to Lief. It wasn't until purple laser fire flashed past the intersection ahead that the crew's "eye in the sky" noticed something important.

"Galra patrol ahead," Lief said in her usual monotone.

"Get under cover!" Griffin hissed.

The crew scattered and the humming grew to a quicker intensity. Veronica found herself behind a crate, furthest ahead. Griffin and Lief crouched behind some rubble, Rizavi slid beside a pipe, and Kinkade pressed himself into an indentation in the ruined wall.

The crew had barely gotten under cover, when they picked up the sound of mechanical feet stepping in unison down the hall. The stomping and laser blasts nearly covered the sound of an individual's frantic running.

Veronica peeked between the crate and the wall as someone dressed fully in unfamiliar, white-and-blue armor stumbled around the corner. He held a bulky gun the same color as his armor, a long, transparent blue shield was attached to the side of one arm, and a black visor hid his face.

The stranger ducked into the main hall to fire off a couple blasts, then bolted down the side tunnel in which the crew was hiding. He threw himself behind the first cover he came across, which happened to be Veronica's crate.

Veronica yelped in surprise when the stranger bowled her into the wall. The stranger immediately pushed himself away and fell back into the open just as a dozen Galra sentries flood the tunnel.

Veronica didn't know who this stranger is, but if he's running from the sentries, he's got to be on their side. So, she quickly recovered and stood full in the open to cover the scrambling stranger.

It's a brilliant idea because she drew the sentries' attention, but at the same time, now there's a dozen sentries shooting straight at _her._ Luckily, the rest of the crew react quickly and step out of hiding to help. Then, the stranger recovered enough to fire back himself.

The group was outnumbered, but the sentries were slow and only three could fit in the tunnel at a time. The crew quickly cut them down, and Veronica dared hope that they could get away without any issue.

Then, harsh impact on her helmet sent Veronica staggering. It sounded like an explosion went off in her helmet, drowning out all other noise and making her knees crumple at the sheer intensity.

Everything blurred for a moment -she wasn't sure if it had been the laser blast to the helmet or the overwhelming noise- and when she could focus again, she was kneeling halfway into the open. The stranger stood beside her, and his shield had been detached and stuck in the ground in front of Veronica. Her ears still rang from the blast, hiding the sounds of battle and Rizavi's humming.

The ground seemed to be shaking, which didn't help Veronica's worries over how bad the blast had affected her until she realized that the stranger was struggling to keep his balance as well.

Lifting her head, Veronica saw part of the ceiling ahead collapse on the two remaining sentries. Cracks spread across the walls and ceiling, headed right for the crew!

The stranger grabbed Veronica. He dragged her roughly to her feet and into a run behind the crew. Eventually, the shaking stopped enough that Griffin gestured for a halt. The stranger let go of Veronica, who was glad when she was able to stand unaided. The blast must have just knocked her off balance.

Veronica turned on her external speakers and turned to the stranger. "Thank you."

The stranger didn't respond, only stared off to the side. Veronica followed his gaze, and realized the pilots were staring at her.

"What?" Veronica asked.

Griffin made a gesture with his hand, but didn't respond. Veronica crossed her arms and waited for the chewing out Griffin would probably give her for putting herself in danger. Oddly, it never came.

"Aren't you going to say anything?"

Griffin didn't say anything, but the hand slapping against his helmet made his meaning pretty clear.

"What did I say?"

Rizavi wrapped her arms around her middle and bent double, briefly alarming Veronica. But no one responded to Rizavi's seeming pain and… then it clicked.

Veronica stomped once. She felt the vibration up her leg, but didn't hear the sound of her foot hitting. She reached up to touch the side of her helmet, and found it rough and scratched.

"I think the blast took out my radio," Veronica said sheepishly. Now she knew why she couldn't hear Rizavi humming anymore. "But, you guys can hear me?"

Griffin took his hand from his face and raised both in a "well, duh!" gesture. Rizavi was kneeling by then, laughing her head off. Lief went to Veronica's side and started poking at her helmet with a screwdriver that had come from who-knew-where. Kinkade and the stranger stood to the side, not very subtly pointing their guns at each other. Veronica wished she could hear if anyone was talking, but there were gas leaks in the area, making it too dangerous to remove her helmet.

"Where did you come from?" Veronica asked the stranger.

The stranger cocked his head, then pointed down the way they had come. He seemed to hesitate, then perked up. His gun flashed white and, impossibly, vanished into thin air. Kinkade jerked back. Seeming to ignore Kinkade, the stranger made hesitant motions with his hands that Veronica was relieved to recognize.

"Sign language?" he signed, conveying it as a question with a tilt of his head.

"I know it," Veronica said, glad for her knowledge of ASL. She and Lief were fully fluent, while the other three pilots were passable.

"Path fell. Enemy find. Chase," the stranger signed, his hesitation and vague phrases making it clear that he wasn't very fluent.

"Wait, why don't you just tell the others, and Lief can translate?" Veronica suggested.

"His speakers appear to be damaged," Lief explained.

Veronica had to snort at that. "Figures. Where did you come from? Are there others?"

"Far," the stranger signed simply. "Four friends. Safe."

"You came from a long way away, and you have four friends?" Veronica repeated.

The stranger nodded. "Path fell. Separate friends. Safe."

Veronica squinted. "Can you lead us to them?"

The stranger shook his head. "Path fell."

"Oh! The tunnel collapsed and separated you from your companions!"

The stranger nodded and bounced a bit. "Friends safe. Lost."

"Well, let's get back to our base and-"

Griffin cut her off by fiercely shaking his hand and waving his arms. He pointed to Lief, then the young woman translated.

"We can't take him to our base. It could be a trap."

"Really? A trap?" Veronica said drily.

The stranger put his hands on his hips. From his broad, exaggerated motions and twitching back-and-forth of his head, Veronica got the sense that he wasn't actually insulted, but goofing around. Especially when he shrugged and made a "no big deal" motion.

Rizavi and Griffin started talking, with a lot of pointing from Rizavi. Eventually, they looked at Kinkade, who put away his gun at last. Griffin slumped and threw his hands up in defeat.

The stranger put a hand to his visor, like he was covering a cough. Or "hiding" a laugh.

Griffin waved a hand to indicate the crew and stranger, then pointed down the tunnel that would take them to the base. He took the lead with quick steps that could have been mistaken for annoyance, but Veronica just knew he was just jumpy. Despite the humor caused by the stranger, the whole crew was on edge when they left the base.

And it didn't help when the lights flickered out a quarter mile from the base.

"Hey, what happened?" Veronica asked, mostly just so the rest of the crew would realize that she'd stopped.

Power outages happened occasionally in the old tunnels, but the crew knew their way around some sections. Not this section, but some sections.

Someone grabbed Veronica's arm, and she gratefully did the same to them. Even if she couldn't hear or see anything, at least the crew hadn't left her by accident.

While Veronica waited for the person holding her to start moving, two small points of light appeared. The source was uncertain -none of the crew brought lights on patrol because they were too risky to use in the dark- and the lights were too dim to actually light up much. They were blue, triangle-shaped, and roughly the size of Veronica's thumb.

Before Veronica could wonder too much, she felt someone tug on her helmet. She turned her head. The lights, dim as they were, did allow her to see the vague outline of Kinkade -recognizable by his bulk- take off his helmet.

Veronica eagerly took off her helmet. The air was warm and stale, but at least it was breathable. And, she could _hear_ again!

Rizavi was talking. "You mean those markings are on your _face?_ "

Veronica turned, surprised. When the stranger spoke, she stiffened.

"Yeah. Cool, huh?"

"Are you an alien?" Rizavi asked, as they still couldn't make out details.

A year ago, the idea would have been absurd for even Rizavi. But ever since Sam Holt -who had been declared dead on a failed space mission- had returned to the Garrison, things had gotten… weird. Suddenly, aliens were not only an actual thing, but one race in particular had taken over a majority of the universe. Including most of Earth.

The stranger laughed a painfully familiar laugh. "No, I'm human. It's a… long story. I don't really understand it myself."

Rizavi hummed. "I'll believe it when I see you in the light."

"We're almost there," Griffin said from ahead. "Keep moving and listen carefully. If Galra start coming… cover your face, would you?"

"Yes, sir!" the stranger said, obviously teasing.

Veronica couldn't hold it in any longer. "Lance?"

"Yes?" the stranger said.

A brief silence fell over the group. Veronica gaped at the glowing marks that was quite possibly her brother, but couldn't find any words just then.

"McClain?" Griffin said.

"Yes?" Veronica responded out of habit, just as the not-a-stranger said, "Present."

"What?" Rizavi said. "Are there two McClains here?"

"Two? I don't know what you- quiznak, back up. I never introduced myself."

"Lance?" Veronica repeated.

"Yes, it's Lance!" Lance exclaimed.

"Lance."

"Yep."

Veronica's eyes narrowed. "Lance!"

Lance stepped back. "Should I be worried?"

"What's going on, Veronica?" Rizavi asked.

"Don't you have a brother named Lance?" Lief drawled.

"Veronica!" Lance yelped. "You're here?!"

"Yes, I am." Her voice was practically a growl.

"Oh, uh…" Lance moved further back. "I recognize that tone. I think I was safer outside."

"Lance McClain, don't you run away! Just wait until Mama sees you! Do you have any idea how scared we've been since you left!"

Veronica leaped at Lance, not sure if she wanted to hug or shove him. Probably both. But Lance slipped away and Veronica stumbled into the wall.

"Mercy, big sister!" Lance yelped, though he sounded like he was trying to hold back laughter. "I would have left a note, but Blue wouldn't let me!"

"None of your excuses!"

Veronica continued to chase Lance around the darkened tunnel, easily keeping him in sight by the glowing markings on his cheeks.

Until they vanished.

Veronica glared at the darkness. "Lance McClain, stop hiding and face me!"

Armored arms wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her sides. She kicked back, but only got Lance's laughter in her ears as a reward.

"Woah, Veronica, I love you, too," Lance teased.

"If you don't let me go right now," Veronica snarled, "I'm getting Marco and Luis."

Veronica was released and quickly spun around. "Marco and Luis are safe, too?"

"So are Mama, Papa, and Rachel." Veronica poked him in the chest. "You're the only one who's going to be in danger when we get back."

Lance laughed. "I'll take my chances! Now, which way?"

* * *

 **Guest review response!**

 **Random Fan: I get only the best bunkers, because sometimes I just gotta get angst out and I'm not taking any chances. XD I held off on the angst here, but I got a little in the next chapter, fair warning. As for how I get in the mood... I just do. -shrugs- I just decide, "well, I'm gonna write angst" then we get angst. I'm not sure if giving me any _more_ angst ideas would be a good idea, though. -glances around, whispers- But I'll still listen. I _love_ having Blue call Lance her cub! She'll go to some crazy lengths to protect him, too! And, yeah, if Lance and Keith got along, life would be dull. XD _Into the Spider-Verse_ was an awesome movie, I will agree.**


	18. The Stranger in Blue Armor

**A/N: If you have not read the last story, at least read the AN. It explains the AU I'm using. Just a reminder, it's not a continuation of the last chapter. This is an alternate course of events that came out longer and more serious (you can see the lingering humor parts, though) than the last.**

 **I also instigated several more non-canon changes, so keep these in mind: Veronica didn't reunite with her family yet and when Matt contacted the Garrison, he told them that the paladins were dead. Plus two more that I don't want to spoil.**

 **Synopsis: Veronica and the MFE pilots find an injured stranger in unfamiliar blue-and-white armor. Whumping and angst to follow.**

 **Rating: T**

 **Genres: Hurt/Comfort/Family**

* * *

Veronica was 95% sure that Rizavi had a theme song for their group.

Part of her wanted to ask that Rizavi would _stop her incessant humming_. But a larger part took a fair amount of glee in the way Griffin would occasionally pause and glance back, then slightly shake his head and keep moving for lack of excuse as to why she should actually stop.

Okay, so Veronica was pretty easily entertained these days. Patrolling the same empty, metal and concrete tunnels made for dull days.

"Stop," Lief's monotone made Rizavi stop humming.

"Stop what?" Rizavi asked, cocking her head.

"Stop walking," Lief clarified.

Veronica halted and looked over her shoulder. Lief and Kinkade had paused a few yards back, and she, Griffin, and Rizavi hadn't noticed. The trio hastily backtracked.

"What is it?" Griffin asked, obviously trying to remain solemn and… leaderly, but Veronica knew he was itching for action.

"Movement in the fifth sector," Lief said, rapidly scanning data on her wrist-comp. "Scans indicate at least a dozen sentries and something alive."

"Fifth sector," Griffin mused, helmet turning to the side.

"We intercept in three minutes if we take tunnel 4-7," Lief supplied.

Griffin thought for a moment, then nodded and looked back. "Lief, call the Commander and report. We'll check it out, then go from there. Kinkade, take the lead with me."

Lief nodded and Kinkade pulled up his hefty gun to take his place beside Griffin.

Veronica grinned, her pleasure hidden behind her tinted helmet. She glanced at Rizavi, and saw the other young woman bouncing slightly in place.

Once everyone was in line, the five trotted quietly down the tunnel.

* * *

Not long after, the sounds of laser blasts made the crew pause. They had expected the sentries to be patrolling, so what where they shooting at? Everyone else in Veronica's refugee group was back at their base, which meant…

"Another refugee?" Rizavi guessed, all business in a second.

"It's possible," Griffin said. "Lief, anything?"

"The sentries appear to be pursuing someone alive," Lief said.

"Where are they headed?" Griffin asked.

Lief pointed to an intersection ahead. "They will pass in front of us in fifteen seconds."

Griffin spat something under his breath. "Thanks for the warning! Get out of sight! We'll let them pass, then approach from behind."

The crew responded immediately. Veronica ducked behind an abandoned crate, Rizavi squished behind an old pipe, Kinkade backtracked to an indentation in the wall, and Griffin crouched with Lief behind a pile of rubble. Veronica slid the barrel of her gun through a gap between the crate and the wall.

They didn't have to wait long. Bright purple laser blasts flashed by the intersection. Clanking, robotic footsteps became distinct, then an individual's footsteps became audible as a white-and-blue armored figure stumbled into view. The stranger didn't take advantage of the side tunnel, instead walking backward while firing with an unusual, bulky gun the same color as his armor.

Veronica looked at Griffin, who gave the "wait" signal. The crew held their position as the armored stranger moved out of sight, then the sentries marched into view. Veronica held her breath, but the sentries never suspected the crew's presence. Once the sentries had all passed, Griffin gestured.

"Kinkade, Rizavi, move!"

The two pilots raced forward on nearly silent feet, and Veronica leaped out of her hiding place without orders. She heard Griffin groan, then he and Lief followed.

Kinkade swung into the main tunnel and started blasting, taking out four sentries before they could react. Rizavi took down the next two, then Veronica shot another.

Looking past the sentries, Veronica could see that the stranger had stopped. His black visor seemed to be staring right at Veronica, but he wasn't firing anymore.

The crew's surprise attack worked well and, before long, there were only a couple sentries that had taken cover in the tunnel's debris. The crew hid and waited for their shot.

Veronica glanced at Kinkade and nodded, no words needed. Kinkade leaped up and fired wildly, drawing the attention of the sentries. Veronica shot up and sniped one sentry, but had lost track of the final one.

"McClain!" Griffin yelled in warning.

A sentry loomed up over Veronica. The young woman gasped and started to raise her gun, only for it to be batted aside. The sentry raised its gun and trained it on Veronica, then it gave an odd twitch.

The grate of metal on metal made Veronica look down in time to see a white blade slip out from the sentry, leaving a gaping hole of sparking wires and metal. Then the sentry collapsed in a heap, and Veronica found herself staring at the armored stranger.

For a minute, no one moved.

The stranger made a motion with his white-and-blue sword. Veronica briefly wondered from where it had come, then was distracted when the stranger stepped back.

"Wait!" Griffin ordered, his voice getting a sort of echo when he turned on his external speakers. "Who are you?"

The stranger either didn't understand or his own speaker wasn't working. He simply stood there, swaying slightly as his dark helmet turned to each member of the crew in turn. He started to turn away.

"Stop!" Griffin ordered.

Veronica looked back and wanted to groan when she saw he'd raised his gun. "Lay off, Griffin. He might not understand you. This armor isn't Garrison. Maybe he's not from around here."

"Well, we can't leave him here. The commander will want to talk to him," Griffin said, still not lowering his gun. "And if there's others, we need to contact them."

"Why don't you just ask nicely?" Rizavi asked, also with her external speaker on.

Veronica turned back to the stranger, who had frozen half turned away, and switched on her external speaker. "Don't mind him. We're all a bit jumpy nowadays. I'm sure you understand. Thanks, by the way, for helping me there."

The stranger nodded slowly. From the new angle, Veronica could see burn marks on the side of his helmet. The metal was cracked and crumpled along the left side, so it was possible that his speakers had actually been damaged.

"Are there others with you?" Veronica was pretty sure Griffin was glaring at her, but he wasn't always the most gentle with others.

The stranger nodded again. He raised a hand, but hesitated to point. He stood still for a second, then his body wavered. His hand pressed against the wall for support.

"Woah, are you okay?" Veronica asked, stepping forward.

The stranger flinched away, half-raising his sword before a warning yell from Griffin made him freeze again. Veronica waved Griffin off impatiently.

"It's okay, we're friends," Veronica said slowly.

The stranger seemed to study her, then turned back to fully face her. He gestured with his hands, then tapped his helmet.

"Can you understand me?" Veronica asked.

The stranger cocked his head, then nodded. He reached up like he was going to take off his helmet.

"Don't!" Veronica yelped, making the stranger pause. "The Galra filled some of these tunnels with poisonous gas. It's not safe to breathe."

The stranger jerked his hand away from his helmet. He nodded and made a motion like tipping an imaginary hat, probably thanking Veronica for the warning.

The silly gesture made an unexpected lump rise in Veronica's throat, though she couldn't place the reason. She swallowed and nodded.

The stranger abruptly straightened and looked around. He made a frustrated gesture, then was walking past Veronica before she could react.

"Where are you going?" Griffin asked, stepping to block the stranger's path.

The stranger pointed at himself, then down the tunnel. He repeated the motion a couple times, then held up four fingers and jabbed them forward when no one understood.

"Do you have friends here?" Rizavi asked.

The stranger nodded and pushed past Griffin. When Kinkade stepped to the side to block him, then stranger threw his head back in an exaggerated manner. He turned to Griffin, probably recognizing him as the crew's leader, and gestured to include himself and the crew, then pointed down the tunnel. His head cocked, like a pleading puppy.

Veronica caught on. "You want us to come with you?"

The stranger nodded eagerly and looked at Griffin.

Griffin sighed and drew a hand down his helmet. "Alright, we'll follow you. But if there's too many sentries or Galra, we'll have to get reinforcements first."

The stranger bounced and squeezed past the crew to jog down the tunnel. Veronica chuckled as they started to follow, though she frowned a moment later.

"He's limping," she said to Lief, the closest crew member.

"The armor on his left leg is half crushed," Lief said in her normal calm.

Veronica blinked, and wondered how she hadn't noticed. The armor was badly crumpled and dented, paint flaking off to show plain grey metal under. Now that she was paying attention, she realized that all of his armor was quite dusty and scratched.

Veronica sped up to keep pace with the stranger. "How badly are you hurt?"

The stranger looked at her, then shook his head.

"You're limping," Veronica said.

In a way that was disturbingly practiced, the stranger's gait shifted into a sort of gallop. The limp was hidden in the bouncy step, but still somehow seemed natural.

Veronica raised an eyebrow at the move, but the stranger waved impatiently and sped up. She shook her head and focused on running.

* * *

A short while later, the stranger led the crew to a blockage in the tunnel. Veronica knew for a fact that the tunnel had been clear a week before but something -laser burns on the walls and ceiling were clear hints as to what- had weakened the roof enough that it couldn't hold the tons of dirt above it. Cemet, dirt, rocks, and pipes filled the tunnel with no way past.

The stranger stopped in front of the blockage and gestured. His motions were calm and somewhat sheepish as he pointed to himself, then down the tunnel. Holding up four fingers again, he pointed toward the blockage, then up.

"You were separated from your group by the collapse," Veronica voiced.

The stranger nodded and mimed digging.

Veronica eyed the rubble. "I don't know…"

"It's impossible," Lief said before Veronica could tell him gently. "With only the six of us."

The stranger slumped. A moment later, he perked up and trotted to Lief. He pointed to her map, then at the blockage.

Lief stared silently, so Veronica translated.

"You want to know if there is another tunnel leading to the other side?"

The stranger nodded eagerly. He drooped when Lief shook her head.

"That tunnel only leads outside," Lief said.

Griffin started. "You came from outside?"

The stranger cocked his head, nodded, then shrugged.

"No one… well, no human," Griffin said, "Has been topside for months, unless they're a captive."

The stranger's hand clenched, but that was the only response he gave.

"Let's head back to base," Rizavi said. "The commander will know what to do."

The stranger shrugged, then hesitated. He turned back to the rubble, then, holding up a hand in a "wait" gesture, he stepped closer. He studied it for a minute, then nodded. His sword flashed white then, impossibly, vanished into thin air. With both hands free, he started to climb.

The tunnel ceiling was fifteen feet above the floor and the whole mess blocking it shifted and crumbled unexpectedly and he was obviously favoring one leg while climbing, but the stranger made it to the ceiling in no time at all. Then, bracing his feet on a metal pipe poking out of the dirt, he started digging through the debris.

"How deep do you think the tunnel's blocked?" Veronica asked Lief.

Lief shrugged. "No way to tell from here."

Griffin sighed. "Come down here. We'll go back to our base and decide what is the best thing to do from there."

The stranger paused in his digging to look down, head cocked. Veronica held back a snort.

"Now," Griffin said firmly.

The stranger turned. When he shifted to step down, the leg he'd been favoring abruptly folded under him. Arms flailing, he sat down hard. He slipped from the pipe and he skidded down the pile of rubble. He hit the floor with a clank of metal shoes. With his momentum, he stumbled a couple of steps, then planted his feet to come to a quick, steady stop.

The crew hadn't had time to react to the stranger falling, and stood still for an uncertain minute. Then Rizavi clapped. Veronica, grinning, was the only one to join, but that didn't seem to bother the stranger. He flung his arms out in a "tah-dah" gesture and bowed, low and dramatic.

Which was about the time that the pipe fell down as well, beaning the stranger in the back of the head.

 _Clang!_

The crew froze. The stranger stayed in his bowing pose while the pipe clattered to the floor. Slowly, visibly shaking, he straightened.

"Maybe you should sit down," Veronica said, taking a step forward.

The stranger nodded and made as if to sit, then he pitched forward without warning. Veronica leaped forward and caught him under his arms before he could hit the ground. Kinkade was beside her a second later, taking the stranger's weight and helping her turn him to lay him down.

"At least he's breathing," Veronica said, watching the rise and fall of the black material visible around the stranger's middle. "I wish we could take his helmet off."

Veronica stood. Lief and Rizavi were making sure that no more rubble would fall on Veronica and Kinkade while they worked. Griffin hovered unhelpfully over the stranger.

"You can put away the gun," Veronica told Griffin. "I don't think he's any danger."

"It could be a trick," Griffin said stubbornly.

Veronica rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. What are we doing with him?"

"We'll take him back to base," Griffin said. "Once he's conscious, the commander can talk to him."

"I wonder if he even speaks English," Veronica mused. "His armor's so strange…"

Rizavi wandered over with Lief. The latter took a scanner from one of her pockets, then picked up a splinter of the stranger's armor.

"I've never seen anything like it," Rizavi said.

Kinkade hummed his agreement.

"That armor isn't from Earth," Lief said.

"Are you sure?" Griffin asked tersely.

"The metal it's made from isn't, at least," Lief said simply, eyes still on her scans.

Rizavi leaned slightly back. "Did we find an alien?"

A year ago, the idea would have been absurd, even for Rizavi. But ever since Sam Holt -who had been declared dead on a failed space mission- had returned to the Garrison, things had gotten… weird. Suddenly, aliens were not only an actual thing, but one race in particular had taken over a majority of the universe. Including most of Earth.

"What if a member of the Coalition crashed here?" Veronica asked.

"Impossible," Griffin said. "Why would they even come here?"

"By accident?" Veronica shrugged. "Look, we can just stand here in enemy territory and talk, or we take this guy back to base and see what the commander wants to do."

"If he isn't human, we shouldn't take him to the base," Griffin said immediately.

"This armor isn't Galra and he's too small to be one of them, anyway," Rizavi said. "Not to mention that we found him running _from_ Galra sentries."

"We can't leave him here," Kinkade said, his first words on the whole patrol.

Kinkade's plain words made Griffin slump. "You're right." He sighed. "Fine, we'll cut the patrol short and take him to the commander."

Rizavi pulled a collapsible stretcher from her pack and set it up. Kinkade and Veronica carefully put the stranger onto the stretcher and strapped him down to prevent him from rolling off while they walked. Griffin searched futilely for the stranger's weapons, unable to believe that they had really disappeared, but eventually gave up.

"Lief, find the quickest route back. Rizavi, watch our front, and I'll cover the rest of you from behind. Kinkade, Veronica, handle the stretcher," Griffin ordered.

The crew nodded and went to their positions. They took a moment to check on each other, then headed for the base.

* * *

The crew slowed when they neared the base's entrance. Rizavi dropped back to a couple hundred feet behind Griffin, keeping an eye on each intersection in case they were being tailed.

Finally, the crew reached the entrance and stopped. Rizavi and Griffin darted back to clear the halls once more, then returned. Lief pressed a hidden panel, then a portion of the wall swung inward.

The crew hurried into the dark room, and Griffin closed the door behind them. Lief typed a code into a keypad on the wall. A mechanical humming filled the room, then a green light blinked on, the air now clear of poison. A second door on the other side of the room opened, and the crew stepped into a dimly lit hall.

The crew let out automatic sighs of relief and instinctively relaxed. When they retracted their visors, even Griffin was smiling. No matter how dull or exciting the day had been, getting into the base without Galra finding them was always a success.

The crew headed down the tunnel, eventually pausing at a large, open space.

The area had once been a subway station, but had been transformed into a hideaway for the Garrison refugees. Tents and crates filled most of the space, feeble homes for the dozens of families hidden away and everything had a coating of concrete dust. Despite this, base was bright and cheery, people calling out to each other and children ran around, laughing and yelling.

People greeted the returning patrol, and Veronica felt a painful pang when Rizavi's parents enveloped her in a hug. After the Galra had taken over Earth, Veronica hadn't been able to connect with her family. She hoped they were safe, hidden away at another location.

Veronica was tugged forward when Kinkade resumed walking, jolting her back to the present. People had noticed the stranger, and gathered around to ask who he was.

"We found him outside," was all Griffin would say.

The crew worked their way through the crowd to a small, rough-hewn tunnel on the far wall. The refugees reluctantly dropped back, allowing the crew to walk alone into the make-shift room that had been carved out a few months before.

"Commander," Griffin called from his spot in front.

The crew entered the commander's living area. Two bunkbeds were pressed against the far wall, but that was the only sign of a home. The rest of the available space was filled with map-strewn tables, various crates, and a few tools. The two chairs of the room were filled, but their occupants quickly stood once the stretcher was in full view.

Commander Sam Holt leaned heavily on a cane to compensate for an injured back. His eyes were impossibly wide behind his glasses, lit up in what seemed to be recognition. Colleen, standing beside her husband, stared at the stranger, but only in confusion.

"We found someone on patrol," Griffin said hesitantly at Sam's expression.

Sam limped quickly forward, oblivious to the crew as he exclaimed, "Lance!"

The mention of her brother's name almost caused Veronica to drop her end of the stretcher. "Wh-what?"

Sam didn't explain, only kicked random objects aside to clear a space on the floor. "Put him down."

Veronica numbly lowered the stretcher to the floor, then shook herself. She must have misheard the commander, that was all. She knew her brother was-

Then Sam leaned forward and lifted the stranger's helmet away to reveal… Lance.

If Rizavi hadn't had such quick reflexes, Veronica would have hit the floor hard. Luckily, the other young woman caught Veronica and helped her sit.

"Lance?" Veronica whispered.

Her brother was exactly like he'd left… until she looked closer. Shadows under clenched eyes. Gaunt face, streaked with sweat. Mouth twitching with inaudible words. There were little glowing marks under his eyes that definitely hadn't been there when Veronica last saw him.

Veronica was so focused on the marks that she nearly missed the dribble of blood running from above his ear. She quickly pulled off her glove and pressed it against an ugly gash hidden in his sweat- and blood-matted hair.

"I'll get bandages," Rizavi said, bolting from the room.

"Did you find the other paladins?" Sam asked, voice tight.

His own daughter was a paladin, Veronica remembered with a jolt. She couldn't form words, though, eyes glued to Lance.

"No, sir," Griffin spoke up. "He was alone, but I think the others are safe."

Sam sighed and slowly, painfully, lowered himself across from Veronica. He ran a hand across Lance's dark hair, expression caught between fear and relief.

"Kinkade, help me get his armor off," Sam said. "We need to check for other injuries."

Griffin insisted that Sam didn't need to help, then he and Kinkade found the hidden latches to undo Lance's armor until the boy laid in the black underarmor. Rizavi returned, and she bandaged Lance's head.

By the time the crew had finished, the only injury found had been Lance's head and a swollen ankle, and Veronica didn't feel numb anymore. She accepted a damp rag from Colleen, and set to cleaning her brother's dirty face.

"When he wakes up," Veronica said with chilling calm, "I'm going to kill him for scaring me so bad."

"Uh…" Rizavi leaned away. Her eyes flicked down. "Then don't look at him."

Veronica did, of course, and saw Lance was stirring. She set the rag aside, all thoughts fleeing her mind when his eyes fluttered open.

Weary, dark blue eyes met hers. Lance's expression was clouded and confused, and Veronica had to remind herself that Lance had just been hit on the head. She touched his arm, and his eyes finally focused.

But he still looked confused.

"Lance," Veronica tried to say, but it came out a whisper.

Lance's mouth twitched, then he practically breathed, "Veronica?"

Veronica grabbed her baby brother's shoulders and jerked him up into a tight hug. Lance twitched and squirmed, startled, but relaxed a second later.

Hesitant arms wrapped around Veronica, who responded by holding Lance closer. Lance's grip tightened, and a mix of a sigh and a sob burst out of him. The siblings tried to talk, stumbling words overlapping.

"We tried to come sooner-"

"-Commander didn't know when-"

"-took so long-"

"-Galra took over everything-"

"A-and when we got here…"

"-the Resistance contacted us..."

"I thought you were dead," Veronica and Lance said together.

And then there were no room for words. Just the feel of each others' arms, the sound each others' heartbeat, and the hope that finally, just maybe… things would turn out okay.

* * *

 **A/N: Langst for the win! XD Sorry, Lance is just begging for angst. Speaking of, show of hands. Who wants to see this AU's version of confronting Sendak? There is a 100% chance of Lance being _awesome_ but also a 50% of him dying.**

 **Guest review response!**

 **Random Fan: Woo! Mission success in getting laughter! XD Hope the high of happy tided you through this one. I was hoping all was well on your end, just that you hadn't been able to (wanted to, maybe) review. And, yep, she's still humming. XD I do know Rizavi's first name but, like the other MFE pilots, I think it took all of season seven before it clicked that those weren't their first names. XD Using their last names just stuck with me. Thanks!**


	19. The Mighty Kitties of Voltron

**A/N: Well, it's not Friday like I promised... but I didn't get to a computer until eleven last night and I didn't have the AN done, and I didn't feel like wrting it last night. For the same reason, this chapter's less edited than normal and I might take longer than normal to get to everyone's reviews.**

 **This ended up _way_ longer than I planned, especially the next to last scene... but, Keith is a cat and try to convince me otherwise. XD**

 **Synopsis: The paladins awake one morning to find that their Lions are tiny! Playtime, confusing Alteans, bonding, and combat training ensue.**

 **Genre: Humor**

 **Rating: K**

* * *

Lance was awakened by something small batting his nose. He waved a hand sleepily, thinking Allura's mice had come to wake him up.

Instead, his hand found a larger, smooth-skinned paw. His fingers explored the unexpected surface before curiosity won out. He pushed up his face mask and opened his eyes. Then he blinked.

"No way," Lance whispered, afraid of waking himself up because he had to be dreaming.

A cat-sized Blue was perched on his chest, staring at her captive paw with glowing yellow eyes.

"Is this for real?" Lance whispered, releasing the paw.

Blue's body shook with a loud purr.

"Awesome!" Lance practically squealed, running his hand down Blue's gleaming, warm body. "Are the other Lions like this, too?"

Blue's purrs grew louder as she nodded.

"I gotta see this!"

* * *

Elsewhere, three other paladins were being woken in similar manners.

Hunk, upon feeling an animal-sized weight on his chest, briefly panicked. He laid still and didn't dare to breath before a soft purr came from the creature. He crept one eye open. He was faced with Yellow sprawled happily on his chest, glowing eyes pleading for patting.

Pidge was only half-awake when she discovered it was Green on her, but she lost no time in scooping up the small Lion. Green's purrs were drowned out by her excited -definitely squealing- technobabble of questions.

And Keith, well…. past experience told him that waking up with an animal on you never ended well. With his sleep-muddled brain screaming "snake!" Keith flung the weight off himself and scrabbled for his knife. Red hit the far wall with a resounding thud and resentful screech.

* * *

Lance, hugging a content Blue, ran into the hall. Two more doors opened immediately after. Hunk, cradling Yellow, and Pidge, with Green draped across her shoulders, soon joined Lance.

"You guys, too?" Lance asked. "I thought I was dreaming!"

"I still think I'm dreaming!" Pidge chirped.

"How is this even possible?!" Hunk exclaimed.

A screech from down the hall interrupted them. The trio turned as Keith's door opened.

Red shot into the hall, yowling like a kicked cat. He ran to the closest paladin -Lance- and scaled him like a tree to perch on his shoulder. Blue, disturbed by Red's mad scramble, growled and swatted at him.

Keith stumbled into the hall. He was fully dressed -did he ever wear PJ's?- though he held his jacket in one hand. His face was creased in frustration.

"What happened? Why is Red-" Keith blinked, focusing on the other shrunk Lions. "Why are the Lions so small?"

"What did you do to Red?"Lance asked instead. He held Blue to the side to put some distance between the agitated Lions. "No, don't tell me. You threw your knife at him."

"What? No!" Keith protested. "He startled me, and I… kind of… threw him."

Lance blinked. "You threw your Lion."

"I didn't mean to," Keith said with a scowl. He reached out. "Now give him back."

Lance stepped away. "Uh-uh. No way am I giving him back to-"

Red hopped to the floor and trotted to Keith. Ignoring Keith's reaching hands, Red dodged behind him and climbed up Keith's back. By the time the boy straightened, Red was sitting on his shoulder like he'd been there the whole time.

Blue calmed down and cuddled closer to Lance, who gave up the opportunity to tease Keith further to coo at his Lion.

"Hey, where's Shiro?" Hunk asked.

The four paladins and Lions looked around -Keith and Red breaking their glare-off. None of them had noticed the absence of the eldest paladin.

"He might be on the bridge already," Keith suggested.

"I think he would have woken us up or at least waited for us in the hall," Hunk mused.

"Maybe he's not awake yet," Pidge said.

"Shiro never sleeps late," Keith said.

The four paladins went to Shiro's door and opened it.

Shiro was, amazingly, sound asleep. He was sprawled on his stomach, arms looped loosely around Black, who was only slightly bigger than Yellow's current size. Black was awake and purring steadily, but almost seemed to glare at the paladins.

The four backed off and let the door close. They walked down the hall, silent by unspoken agreement, until they were far from Shiro's room.

Eventually, Lance spoke. "Was it just me, or was Black totally guarding Shiro?"

The other paladins nodded, while their Lions gave agreeing rumbles.

Green pricked her ears forward and growled softly. When Pidge looked at her, Green pointed her muzzle to an intercom on the wall. Pidge stared at the intercom, then her eyes widened. She scrambled to pull her phone from her pocket and stared at the screen.

"We gotta get to the bridge," Pidge blurted before darting down the hall. Green rumbled in surprise before grabbing Pidge's PJ's more securely.

The boys looked at each other with raised eyebrows, then ran to catch up.

"What's on the bridge, Pidgeon?" Lance asked as he easily kept pace.

"Coran!" Pidge yelped. "He's gonna give the wake-up call any second!"

Keith grabbed Red in his arms so the Lion wouldn't fall when he put on a burst of speed. Hunk and Pidge picked up the pace, but all three were left in the dust as Lance -after briefly slowing to set Blue on the floor- shot ahead, desperate to keep Shiro from a rude awakening.

* * *

Coran had a lungful of air -Lance always needed an extra octave to be roused- and was leaning toward the microphone, when the bridge doors opened. Someone rushed inside.

"Don't do it!" Lance shrieked.

Coran jumped and spun, luckily turned from the microphone when he blurted, "Lance!"

Lance tried to stop, but his momentum was too much to even slow before he ran smack into Allura in the center of the bridge.

"Lance!" Allura exclaimed as she was knocked backward.

Despite her shock, Allura managed to stay upright and catch Lance. She blinked down at the panting boy in her arms, then lightly scowled.

"Lance, what was that all about?" Allura asked.

Lance gave her a wide grin. "Just falling for you, as always."

Allura's narrowed her eyes further, ready to simply drop Lance. She did a moment later, though it wasn't because she was annoyed. Blue had reached her paladin and hopped onto his shoulders, startling Allura.

"Ouch," Lance mumbled into the floor.

"Is that… the Blue Lion?" Allura asked, staring at said Lion sitting on Lance's back.

"Good, you stopped him," Pidge announced.

The youngest paladin entered the bridge with Hunk and Keith. All three had their respective Lions shrunk down and trotting at their heels.

The two Alteans gaped as the Lions wandered the bridge, poking around consoles and chairs they had never been able to see for themselves. Hunk went to Lance and helped him up, prompting Blue to join the other Lions. Pidge watched the Lions with a huge grin and Keith seemed to be ignoring them, as if a tiny Red was a normal thing for him.

"What is this?" Coran finally managed.

"We didn't want you waking up Shiro." Lance snagged Blue and held her out. "How'd this happen?"

Coran sputtered for a minute before getting out, "That's what I'm asking you, my boy!"

"Oh." Lance's smile faltered. "How should I know?"

"It's your Lion!"

"I don't know how this magicky stuff works!"

While Lance and Coran snapped at each other, Allura regained her composure and asked more calmly, "When did you discover your Lions like this?"

"Just now," Pidge said. She yelped and darted toward her console. "Green, no scratching the wires!"

"You haven't seen this before?" Hunk asked.

Allura slowly reached a hand to Yellow. "Never. And I do not recall Father mentioning this ever happening." She beamed when Yellow rubbed his head against her hand.

"Oh, I bet that's what it is," Lance said, his suddenly calm voice catching the attention of the others.

"It would make sense," Coran agreed.

Lance and Coran turned back to the others. Everyone stared expectantly at each other for a full minute.

"Are you going to share?" Pidge asked.

Lance blinked as Blue leaped to the floor. "Share what?"

Pidge face-palmed. Hunk tried next.

"It sounded like you and Coran had an idea about what happened to the Lions."

"We did. It's more of a why than a how, though," Lance said.

"We believe that this group of paladins reached a new level of bonding with their Lions," Coran said.

Allura gave him an odd look. "But the first paladins piloted their Lions for deca-pheobs. Why would these five unlock something that the more experienced paladins didn't?"

Hunk winced. "Wow, harsh."

Aluura quickly turned to him. "I didn't mean it like that."

"I think you did," Pidge said.

"I can answer that question as well," Coran piped up. "With the exception of Alfor at times, the paladins of old had no time for silliness. They were hardened by war and the trials of leadership. Having the Lions in such a vulnerable state would only bring frustration and danger. But with their current paladins, this state will serve to strengthen their bonds."

"This will help our bonds?" Keith asked, doing a splendid job of ignoring Red and Yellow playing hide-and-seek around his legs. "How?"

Coran twirled his mustache. "Through play!"

The Lions froze, ears swiveling toward Coran. The advisor continued to play with his mustache, oblivious to the Lions creeping closer.

"Uh… Coran?" Lance said, starting to grin. "I think you said the magic word."

"Magic word?" Coran repeated. "I thought humans didn't have magic."

The Lions were close by then. Red growled out a command, and Yellow veered off.

"It's not exactly magic," Lance said, watch Blue crouch from the corner of his eye. "But it will really have an impact on you."

"Oh? What is it?"

Alllura spotted the Lions closing in. "Lance-"

"Play!" Lance yelled.

Coran didn't have a chance.

Blut threw herself at Coran's chest, knocking him backwards. While Coran tried to regain his balance and catch Blue, he tripped over Yellow crouched behind him. The poor advisor couldn't compensate, and sprawled flat on his back. Blue leaped free and Yellow squirmed from under her legs, but Red and Green leaped onto his chest.

Coran blinked at the Lions on him, too confused to try and free himself.

"A successful catch!" Pidge crowed. Lance and Hunk were too busy laughing to do anything other than nod, and even Keith was starting to smile.

"I don't think it's funny," Allura said sternly.

Allura started to march toward Coran, but was halted by a tug on her dress. She turned to see Blue and Yellow had attacked the hem of her dress, and were pulling on it.

Allura's expression -a mix of anger and confusion- sent Lance to the floor in a fit of laughter.

"Paladins, please control your Lions!" Coran pleaded as his attempt to sit up was met with a growl from Red.

Keith was the first to take pity on Coran and step forward. He reached toward Red, saying, "Get off Coran and stop playing."

Too late, Keith realized his mistake.

All four Lions stopped what they were doing and bolted. Seeing the group -pack? pride?- of them headed for the bridge door finally spurned the other paladins into action.

Lance raced ahead of the Lions and closed the door. The Lions spun and were faced with an advancing Hunk and Pidge.

Giving tiny roars, the Lions scattered. The paladins took off after their Lions while the Alteans regained their composure and contemplated helping.

* * *

An hour later, Black entered the bridge. A very confused, but rested, Shiro wandered behind him.

"Coran," Shiro said," Have you ever-"

Shiro jumped as a tiny Green darted past him. Black growled and cuffed Green, earning an indignant yowl. Both Lions were quickly distracted by a red dot on the floor. With a scrabble of metal claws, the Lions raced after the dot.

"Shiro, you're up!" Pidge called.

Shiro turned to see Pidge sitting on her console. She held something in one hand that looked suspiciously like a laser pointer.

"Pidge, how long have you known about this?" Shiro asked, gesturing to Black and Green.

"Just since we woke up," Pidge said.

"We?"

"We," Hunk confirmed, poking his head over the top of Coran's console.

Completely confused now, Shiro walked around the console.

A miniature Blue was sprawled belly-up across Allura's lap, vibrating with purrs while Allura rubbed her belly. Lance was teasing Yellow with string and urging a strangely hesitant Coran to him. Hunk appeared to be sheltering Allura's mice in his hands.

Shiro realized his mouth was hanging open and closed it. He stared for another moment, then asked, "How?"

"We don't know, but we think its a bonding thing," Lance said, snickering when he hid the string from Yellow.

Shiro caught right on and started to smile. He chuckled when Pidge mischievously tricked Black and Green into Coran, who leaped to his feet with a shout of protest. Yellow spooked and ran. Hunk all but threw the mice to Allura as he rushed after his Lion. Black grabbed Green and pulled her to the floor when the smallest Lion crouched to leap at Coran. Lance grabbed Blue while scolding a cackling Pidge.

Shiro shook his head fondly as the previously calm group grabbed Lions, mice, and string to stand. Pidge rescued Green and pouted at Lance. Shiro was about to pick up Black when the Lion curled around his ankles, then realized someone was missing.

"Where's Keith?" Shir asked.

"Uh…" Lance broke off scolding to look around. "He was just here with Red. You don't think they're combat training to you?"

Pidge snorted. "Don't be ridiculous. Who would look at this-" Pidge gestured to Green now on her shoulder, "-and want to train?"

"Keith would," Hunk said, dragging Yellow from beneath his console.

Pidge was about to protest, then hesitated. She shook her head. "No, not even Keith would do that."

* * *

They found Keith and Red on the training deck.

Shiro was about to end the simulations, but hesitated. Lance peered over Shiro's shoulder with an expression of annoyance.

"He doesn't trust us that much," Lance complained, while everyone else could only stare.

Keith was armed with his bayard sword, and Red had formed his jaw blade. Both were surrounded by training drones, but working in rapid tandem that could only have come from hours of training together to destroy the drones as quickly as they appeared.

Keith worked with his usual reckless ferocity, twisting and leaping with almost inhuman speed. Red kept up perfectly, slicing through anything that got too close to his paladin.

Unfortunately, the paladin and Lion had been training for some time, and it was only a matter of time before they slipped.

Keith, mistiming a lunge, missing the training drone for which he'd been aiming. The drone dodged behind him, cutting Red off from his paladin. Red roared, then was struck by another drone. Keith spun, turning his back on a drone raising its staff.

Shiro had seen enough. "Computer, end-"

Black roared and, flanked by the other Lions, charged. They bowled through the drones until they reached the recovering Red. The four Lions formed their jaw blades and slashed at any drones that got close.

Keith, seeing that Red was safe, spun in time to block the drone's staff. He knocked the staff away, then ducked away from another drone. But his distraction had cost him, and he was completely surrounded!

Lance sighed and summoned his bayard to form his rifle. "Come on, let's save the mullet's tail. As always."

Lance sniped the drones closest to Keith, then Hunk formed his cannon to give Keith some room. Shiro tried to join Keith, but couldn't make it past the drones. Pidge ducked and dodged under drone arms and staffs until she was pressed against Keith's back.

"Hey," Keith grunted, slicing through a drone.

"Hey." Pidge zapped another. "What level is the simulator at?"

"Don't know. I set it to just keep advancing, and Red and I haven't stopped since," Keith said.

"Why am I not surprised?" Lance threw in drily.

Shiro finally reached Keith and Pidge. The three of them went back-to-back, slashing and zapping the drones down quickly.

"Keith, you shouldn't have gone this long alone," Shiro scolded.

Conversation was halted when a fresh wave of drones materialized around them. The drones were too close to the trio for Hunk to clear and Lance was occupied elsewhere, so Shiro, Keith, and Pidge frantically picked up the pace.

"Paladins," Coran called from where he and Allura still watched at the doors. "Would you like me to end the simulation?"

"No!" Keith snapped. He knocked away a drone's staff headed for Shiro while glaring at the elder paladin. "I wasn't alone."

Shiro spared a moment to glance in confusion at Keith, then realization filled his eyes.

Keith smirked. "Red!"

A roar rose over the sounds of fighting. Drones where knocked left-and-right as Red forced his way through them. When he broke free to crouch at Keith's side, he wasn't alone. Black and Green had plunged through the drones as well to join their paladins.

"The Lions did this to help us bond, right?" Keith asked, grinning down at Red.

"Not all bonding exercises have to include fighting!" Lance protested.

"One more round, then we can take a break," Shiro bargained.

Lance sighed as he lifted his gun, obviously hiding a grin when he felt Blue curl around his ankles.

"One more round," Lance agreed.

The paladins resumed training. Keith, twisting together with Red in their dance-fighting, soon broke away from Shiro and Pidge. It didn't take long for Shiro and Black to fall into their own melee-style rush.

Pidge stumbled over Green darting between her feet a couple times before inspiration hit. Shooting her energy whip, Pidg snagged the legs of a drone and jerked it to its knees.

"Green, go!" Pidge yelled.

Green growled in satisfaction and launched herself at the drone. She knocked it over and clawed at its face.

Across the deck, Yellow was playing defense. He stood steady at Hunk's back, slashing any drones that got too close.

At first glance, Blue seemed to not understand that they were fighting. She was running through the drones' legs, nipping at them and jostling them. But really, she was a distraction. While the drones tried to catch the swift Blue, Lance took them out one-by-one.

Witn minutes, the training deck was empty of drones. The paladins, panting and tense, scanned the room for more drones. The Lions stood alert beside their paladin, ears flicking.

Allura finally spoke. "Paladins, that was… that was amazing!"

"You've beat all record times of this level," Coran said, sounding awed. "Even the times of the first paladins!"

Shiro powered down his arm and lowered it. "What?"

"Just look!" Coran cried, plucking a data-pad from the wall.

None of the paladins had mastered the Altean alphabet or number system yet, but there were five rows of words and numbers on the pad. In the final column was groups of numbers set up like times. In the top row of times, the set of numbers had one digit less than the others.

Lance, having forgotten his earlier hesitation, bounced from foot to foot. "Can you imagine how fast we could clear out a fight on the ground, fighting like that?"

The other paladins looked at each other, not even Keith willing to burst Lance's bubble. Blue leaned against him with a distressed rumble.

"As I said earlier, my boy," Coran said gently. "The Lions are to vulnerable in this state."

"We'd be faster," Shiro said. "But we couldn't get off the ground if something went wrong."

Lance looked disappointed for a second, then shrugged it off. He scooped up Blue, who promptly began purring.

"Well, then," he said. "What's next?"

Hunk's stomach growled. "Breakfast?"

* * *

The Lions were very enthusiastic about helping Hunk prepare breakfast. Unfortunately, "helping" meant pouncing on anything that moved, playing keep-away with the utensils, and getting underfoot.

Eventually, though, Hunk managed to get breakfast on the table. The Lions, who couldn't eat even in their current forms, were content to lounge beside the paladins' seats.

After breakfast, everyone wandered off to their typical daily activities. But today, the Lions joined their paladins.

Shiro and Black accompanied Allura to the bridge, where Shiro and Allura usually spent hours watching scans of surrounding space as they traveled and reviewed Galra movements.

Black, much to the pair's chagrin, refused to allow the Castle to be moved. He accomplished this quite effectively by sitting on Allura's pedestal with his claws curled under the edges to anchor himself. No amount of coaxing, shoving, ordering, or threatening could get him to move.

Shiro and Allura eventually gave up and satisfied themselves with discussing old missions and planets they had seen.

When their conversation turned from missions to laughing over the breakfast fiasco, Black purred and sprawled contentedly across the pedestal.

Pidge hung out with Coran to fiddle with tech, and Green fully shared their interests. The little Lion was constantly sticking her head into gaps that Pidge was reaching into, grumbling and purring like she was adding her thoughts.

Pidge and Coran ignored Green and let her do her thing, until they found themselves with a dilemma. They needed readings from a panel that was far down a too-small air duct.

Before Coran could leave to get the tool for that purpose, Green grabbed one end of the cables and scampered through the ducts. She easily reached the panel and plugged in the cable, then purred smugly as she returned to the shocked pair.

Lance was usually roped into cleaning some room, and today was no different. Although Coran was busy with Pidge, Blue happily accompanied her paladin. While everyone else predicted that Lance and Blue wouldn't get much done, they were mistaken.

Lance started out moody and moving slowly as he set about straightening the storage room that had fallen into disarray, and Blue simply followed Lance. Then, Blue jumped onto the next shelf and, with impossible delicacy, set the toppled bottles in order. Watching Blue carefully rearrange the mess put Lance quickly into a better mood, and it wasn't long before he and Blue were racing to see who could straighten the most.

Hunk, unsurprisingly, spent the morning in the kitchen with Yellow. Alone, Yellow was fairly laid-back, content to sprawl on the counter to watch Hunk work.

Hunk eventually coaxed Yellow into helping him for real when he was kneading out a new dough that he was trying. Yellow ended up coated in the teal flour-like substance, with blue batter stuck to his paws. Hunk, between fits of laughter, had to help him clean off in the sink.

Keith and Red headed straight to the training deck again, under the promise to keep the simulations at low levels.

Red couldn't fly or shoot lasers at his current size, but he was quick on his paws. He easily kept up with Keith, and often used his powerful legs to leap impressive heights.

At noontime, the team wandered into the kitchen. Nobody expected to see Keith for the meal, and were surprised when Red dragged Keith into the kitchen by his pantleg.

Afternoon went much the same, except that Red refused to let Keith back to training. First, Keith found himself in Green's hanger, holding suspiciously sparking wires while Pidge and Coran fiddled with tech.

After an hour at the risk of electrocution, Red pulled Keith away. The pair ended up on the bridge in time to catch the end of Shiro's embarrassing story of the time Keith got lost on the Garrison and ended up walking in on the commander. Keith avenged himself by telling about the time Shiro first made pancakes, which somehow ended with half-cooked pancakes on the ceiling.

Then he chased Red down to the storage room in which Lance and Blue were working. The two boys spent ten minutes trying to separate their Lions, then scolding said Lions. Hunk and Yellow showed up to investigate the noise and, somehow, the three teens ended up cleaning together while chatting easily. Their Lions watched from atop shelves, purring in a suspiciously proud manner.

At some point, Keith and Red left. Lance and Hunk finished the cleaning, then they and their Lions headed out to find the others. They found Shiro, Black, and Allura on the hunt for Coran, and the group ended up in Green's hanger.

Pidge and Green were alone, Coran having left some time before. Allura mentioned off-hand that she and Shiro had been swapping stories. Pidge, with a wicked grin on her face, was only too happy to add. Lance fled before she could get onto the topic of him, and he and Blue found Coran a couple corridors away.

Coran, upon hearing the story-telling going on, decided that Allura shouldn't be left out. Curiosity had Lance following at the risk of further embarrassment.

Luckily, the team had moved on from stories. Pidge was showing off improvements she'd made to her helmet. The team and Lions -minus Keith and Red- spent the rest of the afternoon in the hanger, tinkering and swapping less embarrassing stories.

* * *

"Huh, I thought Keith would be here," Shiro commented, looking at Keith's empty spot at the table.

"Maybe he locked the training room doors with Red and him inside," Lance snickered as he helped Hunk prepare dinner.

"Red was adamant about Keith joining us for lunch, though," Allura said.

"Hey, where'd our Lions go?" Pidge asked.

Everyone turned to the youngest paladin, blinked, then looked around the kitchen. The Lions had slipped away during dinner preparations.

Hunk's eyes widened. "You don't think-"

Before Hunk could finish the thought, Yellow leaped through the doorway. He raced to Hunk, curled around his ankles, then raced back to the doorway. He stood expectantly, tail twitching.

"I think he wants us to follow," Lance said, stating the obvious.

The team left the kitchen. Yellow purred and darted down the hall, eventually leading them all to the lounge. The team stepped into the room, then paused. Lance snorted, then bent double in laughter.

Somehow, the Lions had pulled at least a dozen blankets and twice as many pillows into the lounge. The blankets and pillows had been spread across the middle of the floor with the couch cushions forming the nest's edge, where Blue, Black, Green, and Yellow waited expectantly.

While most of the paladins gaped, Pidge ran and jumped into the mess. The Lions scattered before she could land on them, then pounced on her. Pidge laughed and flailed as she was covered.

"How… how did they do this so fast?" Hunk asked as Lance and Coran ran to Pidge's aid. "They couldn't have been gone for more than five minutes."

Black leaped out of the pile of arms and legs and roared, stilling the other Lions. The team stiffened, unsure of what the roar meant.

Once everyone was silent, they realized they could hear Keith's voice in the hall, slowly getting closer.

"This is the last load, alright, Red?" Keith was saying. "Sheesh, what do you guys want with this, anyway?"

The team turned, grinning expectantly when Keith stepped into view. The teen, holding an armload of blankets, froze. From beside him, Red walked backwards into the lounge while dragging a pillow. Red added the pillow to the pile, then turned and waited with the other Lions.

"Red made me do it," Keith said before anyone else could speak.

"Yeah, I'm sure he did," Lance snickered.

Keith flushed. He stormed over to the nest on the floor and dropped his load onto the Lions, then turned to leave.

"Ke-eith!" Pidge dragged out his name. She had burrowed under the blankets, only the reflection of her glasses visible as she peered out. "You can't go!"

Keith didn't respond, only started walking for the door. He got as far as the other paladins, then was halted by Shiro grabbing his arm. Keith looked at Shiro's hand, then at Shiro with narrowed eyes.

"Don't you-"

Blank-faced, Shiro stepped in front of Keith and casually shoved him backward. The Lions escaped in time to attack his ankles, preventing him from catching his balance and causing him to fall into the nest.

Keith scrambled to stand, then had a blanket thrown over him from the side. His attempts to kick it off were hampered when the Lions jumped onto the blanket corners. He stiffened when he heard an eerie whisper by his ear.

"Join us."

Keith swatted blindly, striking something hard and causing a yelp.

"Keith!" Pidge cried.

"There's something-" Keith grunted as he finally succeeded in uncovering his head, "-in here!"

"That was Pidge, man," Hunk dead-panned.

Keith stared up at the rest of the team in disbelief, then turned his head. Pidge, glasses askew, was poking her head out from the blankets to glare.

"Oh. Sorry."

Pidge huffed and vanished from view again. Keith shoved the Lions away and sat up. Shiro, shaking with chuckles, held a hand out. Keith accepted the hand, then smirked. He jerked down, pulling Shiro into the nest.

"Keith!" Shiro yelped before face-planting a pillow.

"See if you like it," Keith huffed.

He squirmed free of the blanket and sat up, but didn't get far. A yell came from within the blankets, then Pidge launched herself free. She wielded a pillow, which she used to smack Keith in the face.

At which point Lance finally joined. He leaped clear over the others to land in the pile's middle, then spun with a pillow in each hand.

"Back me up, Hunk!" Lance threw a pillow to Hunk. "We've got them surrounded!"

Keith and Pidge sprang back in opposite directions, but Shiro only had time to sit up before being walloped by a pillow from either direction.

Black leaped to her paladin's defense and tackled Lance, which led to Blue leaping onto the bigger Lion. The other Lions charged Hunk, who yelled in dismay at Yellow's "betrayal."

Before long, even the Alteans were dragged into the fray. Keith and Pidge gave up their differences and teamed together. Hunk and Lance convinced Coran to join them, while Allura battled alone. Shiro, despite his best efforts, couldn't get any allies and was attacked from every direction. The Lions were wild cards, fighting alongside their paladins one second and turning against them the next. At one point, all the Lions joined Shiro and helped him claim a corner of the nest.

Eventually, Hunk abandoned the battle when he remembered that they had forgotten dinner in the kitchen. He brought dinner to the lounge before anyone else could leave the room. Although Allura was baffled by the idea of eating in the blanket nest, she was convinced to allow it.

After eating, the team lounged around lazily. Lance snuck Pidge's laptop from under the couch and searched for a movie for the team to huddle around. Allura hovered nearby, curious about the movies that Lance rambled about. Pidge had recruited Shiro, Black, Hunk and Yellow to build up the nest walls. Coran was finally convinced to play with Blue and Green with bits of thread. Keith and Red… had vanished.

* * *

"Again?" Shiro said when Pidge pointed this out. "Did anyone see them leave?"

"I think he went behind the couch," Lance said, frowning in concentration. "Something about pillows got thrown back there?"

Coran leaned back. "Yep, he's still there."

"What's he doing?" Pidge asked.

"Can't tell. I just see his feet."

Pidge sprang onto the cushionless couch and peered over. "Keith, what are you-" Pidge made a sort of squeak, then whispered. "Shiro, come look!"

Shiro stood and stepped out of the nest to round the couch. He stopped and stared down at Keith.

Keith was flat on his back, sound asleep. His arms were draped loosely across Red, who was curled on his stomach and purring loudly.

"He looks… peaceful," Pidge said slowly, the concept odd to her.

"Believe it or not, he can tone it down," Shiro said. He crouched and gently shook Keith's shoulder. "Hey, Keith. Get up so we can get you to bed."

Keith didn't respond. Red batted Shiro's hand away with a low hiss.

"Why wake him up just to drag him all the way to his room?" Hunk asked. Shiro looked at him, and Hunk gestured to Yellow piling pillows in the middle of the nest. "Just put him there."

Lance straightened abruptly. "Hey, let's all sleep in here!"

"On the floor?" Allura asked.

"Well, it's something-" Shiro started.

"It's a human bonding thing," Lance interrupted.

Allura looked briefly disbelieving, but let it drop.

Shiro again tried to wake Keith, but to the same results. Shrugging, he looped his hands under Keith's armpits and hauled him up so he was sitting. Red tumbled to Keith's lap with a disgruntled yowl.

"I'll get his legs," Pidge volunteered through her snorts.

Pidge scrambled over the couch and lifted Keith's legs by his ankles. Shiro and Pidge hauled Keith into the nest, and unceremoniously dumped him onto Yellow's prepared pile. Red was sent rolling from Keith's lap, but Keith slept on.

Lance glanced up and snorted. "Wow, he's out. 'Fess up, who drugged Keith?"

Keith shifted, causing the whole group to stiffen. Red grumbled and leaped to his former spot on Keith's chest, then wriggled his way under Keith's arms. Keith stilled, then sighed in his sleep and tightened his grip on Red.

On impulse, Shiro put a hand on Red's exposed head. He smirked at the smug Lion. "Red, that's cheating."

Shiro raised his head, and realized Pidge was staring at him. Pidge put her hand beside Shiro's. Red was vibrating with purrs and warm to the touch. Pidge smothered a giggle in her free hand.

"What is he, a cat?" Pidge asked.

Allura, ignoring the spectacle, leaned to point at the laptop. "What about that one? Those are lions, yes?"

Lance looked at the movie to which Allura was pointing. "The Lion King? Uh, yeah… there's a lot of lions in there. But Hunk sobs every time. Trust me, it's not pretty."

Hunk smiled sheepishly. "It's true."

Lance hunched forward. "Pidge, you have Treasure Planet? I thought nobody knew about that one!"

"Who doesn't know Treasure Planet?" Pidge asked, throwing a blanket over Keith.

Shiro blinked. "Isn't that a book? About the kid with the treasure map and the pirate with the peg leg?"

Pidge and Lance jerked back with identical gasps of horror. Blue and Green turned from Coran, somehow showing disbelief in their glowing eyes.

Shiro shifted. "What?"

"To be fair," Hunk put in. "I thought the same thing when Lance first mentioned it."

"And we never were able to watch it." Lance leveled Pidge with a serious stare. "Why didn't you mention you had this before?"

Pidge shrugged. "You never asked. Now, are we going to talk about how nobody here has seen the best movie Disney made, or are we going to watch it?"

The laptop was set on Keith's lap, where Red and Yellow steadied it with their paws while staring curiously at the screen. Pidge burrowed under the blankets again, then poked her head out to rest on Keith's shoulder while Green perched on her back. Lance dragged Coran down on Keith's left side, where Allura, in a bout of good humor, threw a blanket over them and laid on Lance's free side. Blue, in an effort to be helpful, sprawled across the three. Shiro and Hunk piled up some pillows and leaned against them, while Black lounged across the couch above them all.

Before they could start the movie, Pidge yelped. She attempted to face-palm but couldn't get an arm free, so she settled with smacking her forehead against Keith's shoulder.

Keith started, eyes coming half-open as he mumbled, "Huh, wha? What's going on?"

"We forgot the lights," Pidge announced.

Keith turned his head and blinked sleepily at her. "Pidge?"

Shiro chuckled. He brushed a hand through Keith's hair, then stood, saying, "Go back to sleep. I'll get the lights."

Keith grunted and turned his head to follow Shiro walking away, then squinted when he saw Coran laying beside him with Lance and Allura also on the floor.

"I must be dreaming," Keith mumbled, laying his head back down and closing his eyes.

"Uh, Coran?" Shiro said from across the lounge. "How do I turn off the lights?"

Coran held up a hand, revealing a remote. The lights dimmed, and Shiro returned to his spot.

"If you're all done," Lance said pointedly, reaching across Coran to start the movie.

"We need popcorn," Hunk said.

"We don't have popcorn."

"Right. Actually, I found this plant a bit ago that looks kind of like-"

Lance loudly shushed Hunk and pressed the start button. "Too late, Hunk, I'm starting the movie! No talking, anyone!"

No one spoke, but Pidge did snicker. Lance shushed her, which led to a brief shoving contest that went nowhere because neither could reach the other.

"Truce?" Lance finally offered.

"Sure," Pidge said, eyes on the screen. "Now shush, it's starting!"

* * *

Some hours later, everyone was asleep. Shiro had been the first one to drop off, before the movie ended, then everyone else slowly followed during the second movie.

Five glowing eyes simultaneously opened, dimly lighting the dark room. Black growled softly, then trotted to the end of the couch to leap onto the clear floor. Blue tiptoed delicately across the sleeping friends. Yellow carefully closed Pidge's laptop and picked it up in his broad jaws to set on the couch, then joined Black and Blue. Green pulled Pidge's glasses off with some difficulty, as Pidge's face was smushed against Keith's shoulder. Red, grumbling and huffing, slid out of his spot in Keith's arms and was the last Lion to leave the nest.

Black looked over the Lions, then nodded slightly. The Lions turned and went to the door, when they found themselves with a dilemma. None of them were tall enough to reach the door pad without jumping, which held the risk of waking someone when they landed!

"Need help?" Coran's voice whispered.

The Lions spun, ears flattening and tails twitching in guilt.

Coran untangled himself from his companions and stood without rousing any of them. He made his careful way across the tangle of arms and legs until he reached the edge of the nest. He walked on silent feet to where the Lions huddled, where he paused.

After a moment, Blue cocked her head and stepped forward. She turned her muzzle to the handpad, then back to Coran.

"I suppose you couldn't stay in this form forever," Coran said with a slight sigh.

The Lions stared. Coran leaned forward and pressed a hand against the pad, opening the door. He stepped into the hall, then glanced back.

"Coming?"

The Lions scrambled to follow Coran before the door could close. They huddled briefly around Coran's legs, then followed him when he started walking.

Coran didn't say anything as he and the Lions made their way to the hangers. The hanger doors were already open and, after a pause, the Lions walked to their respective doors.

"Thank you," Coran said before the Lions were out of sight. "The paladins enjoyed their quintant with you."

Blue and Green bounded back to Coran to nuzzle his knees, then dashed into their hangers. Yellow stomped, his purr echoing in the hall. Red grumbled and ducked his head, then darted out of sight.

Coran looked at Black, who hadn't moved or made a sound.

Black met Coran's gaze, then spread his wings and tipped his head back. Black's roar boomed in the large space.

Coran smiled as the echoes died away. Black looked at Coran, nodded, then turned and walked away. Without a word, Coran did the same.

* * *

 **A/N: If you're interested in seeing more small-Lions, keep an eye on my other story _Little Ones_ for an upcoming chapter _Red's Cub._ It's, predictably, about Red using her shrinking ability to protect Keith!**

 **Guest review responses!**

 **Random Fan: I can't wait to get your suggestion written, because Rizavi's so much fun to write! Cool about the angst... because that AU is going to get crazy! Which, by the way, is _on_. I've gotten several people raising both hands, and you've acquired a large amount of support. 0w0 The thing about writing... everyone feels OOC, pretty much, so it's so relieving when readers say that the characters are in character! I'll say, thanks for caring, too! I like my enthusiasic readers. 0w0 I've just always called the MFE pilots by their last names, so it's like a joke by now. Probably because... Griffin... GriffTalon... I'm easily amused. Anyway, I don't say this enough because I don't want to be boring, but thanks for the review!**

 **Shiranai Atsune: Chapter 18 was an AU where the paladins were slower to return to Earth, so the Garrison fell before the paladins could get there to help. They didn't try to contact anyone because they didn't want to reveal they were there. For the same reason, the AU goes for about a week without Lance contacting the other paladins. And I will be continuing it!**


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